


Two British Boys Meet

by YanDanTDM



Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game), Trinity RPF, Yandere high school
Genre: Angst, Arguments, Bullying, Crossover, Feeling left out, Fluff, Forced, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Images, Panic Attacks, SAM IS GONE POG, Watchers, Watching, it’s all the genres, murderous intent, you better go with it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:01:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 25,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22970677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YanDanTDM/pseuds/YanDanTDM
Summary: when two boys who just so happen to be british meet in uncertain, slightly concerning circumstances, who knows what they'll do?
Comments: 17
Kudos: 102





	1. [PROLOGUE]

The boy with goggles was in the middle of PE, barely able to keep up with the rest of the class as they did laps. He wasn’t a sporty person, and wasn’t in a good mood anyway (he had to cancel a trip to Japan due to some family issues, he was meant to miss this week). His doppelgänger was running with him although he could definitely be faster. But he couldn’t care less about the fact he was on the same level as the others. This dummy needed his help. The others were gonna bully them both anyways, so screw it.  
“ALRIGHT KIDDOS! GET TO THE MIDDLE!”  
“This is torture…” the slow boy breathed, walking back.  
“It might be tiring, but it isn’t torture.”  
“It’s an idiom, Morgan.” The boy had thought that his lookalike was rather dense, despite his grades.  
“I know that. But think about it. We’re not going through the worst thing in the world…”  
“Morgan, Dan, get in line.” the teacher said, getting the two boys mixed up.  
Yet again, Morgan had given that boy a question. He liked to make sure Dan was occupied. Not that he liked him, just that he liked to hear Dan’s responses.  
Dan was now thinking about what the worst thing in the world to go through was. What could be considered torture. Famine, abuse, kidnapping and the like. It became a really interesting topic for him. What if, on the other side of the world, someone was going through something much worse but they were living with it? How privileged was he acting, or could this be considered torture, in a sense?  
He was so lost in his thoughts that he completely missed the demonstration.  
“Dan, we’re moving.”  
“What are we doing? I-“  
“I know, I know, you got lost in your thoughts. I’ll show you.”  
And so the lesson continued.  
———  
On the other side of the world, a dirty-blonde haired boy wearing headphones sat in a cold, dirty shed, forcing crisps and plastic down his throat.  
He let out a sob but instantly covered his mouth. He felt his throat close in on the plastic, suffocating him as he hid from Sam.  
His ‘friend’ walked in. He began laughing like the poor boy wasn’t even there, joking about him right in front of him, calling him names.  
The boy let out a sob which earned him a look. He gave a weak smile. Sam kept laughing and laughing and laughing, knife clenched in his hand that our blondie couldn’t take his eyes off of.  
But it doesn’t matter. All he’s going through doesn’t matter.  
Cause at least he’s happy, right?  
At least he’s sane, right?  
So now you won’t hurt him, right?  
And so the night continued.  
———  
The goggle-wearing boy survived his PE lessons and went to break, only to get beaten up in the hallway for being a nerd. The headphone wearing boy made it through the night without dying and went to school the next day, still full of fear, like nothing had happened the day before.  
And then the two grew up, the goggle wearing boy achieving his lifelong dream of becoming a paranormal scientist. He didn’t have to do too much sport. He never got to answer Morgan’s question, in the end.  
The headphone wearing boy got to ditch the headphones and left that place, became a master builder and made real friends that wouldn’t destroy his sanity. He didn’t have to eat any more drugged chips. Sam had hurt him multiple times though.  
Two boys with very different lives.  
But...they’re both British!  
What would happen, fate asked itself one day, if the two boys got a drag back to highschool, and they met like they were meant to so long ago?


	2. [CHAPTER 1: DAN]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story begins.

When I woke up, I expected it to be a ‘normal’ day.  
At least, normal for me anyways. ‘Normal’ means I’m usually up and about, gathering materials and doing experiments. So there I was, walking through the forest, looking for some flowers or something along those lines. I don’t remember.  
And then I heard the crackling.  
I knew it wasn’t mine - there were no sticks under my feet. And when I was stationary, it was still happening.  
I hid behind a tree to wait it out until the person would leave, but then I realised it was coming from behind the tree.  
So now I’m looking like a stalker.  
I peek out to see a blondie with oversized blue clothing sadly eating crisps.  
It confused me at first. This is in one of those small - and when I say small, I mean tiny (The lab was in an enormous one in comparison. And we had called that clearing small.) - clearings. There seemed to be a makeshift shed there though, and one log. This kid sits on the log.  
After I get a look at the surroundings, I return my gaze to the boy and rush out with an empty sample bag.  
He’s about to be sick. I have no idea what was in those crisps.  
I make sure the bag is in the range of his vomit, so he is sick there. It’s kinda disgusting. Jem would be sick herself, or at least feel like it. But with years of training originally to be a scientist, I’ve learned to withstand it. I’m still squeamish though.  
After he’s done, he looks up at me, quite shocked that I just suddenly ran in. I zip up the newly dyed orange vomit bag and throw it by the corner of the shed. I allow him to catch his breath before I talk to him.  
“Might as well introduce myself. Name’s DanTDM. You?”  
(It’s etiquette to introduce yourself as your playername. It’s not like you can’t introduce yourself by your name, but if you’re being polite then you do it once you know the person kinda well.)  
“T-G-Grian...” he stutters out.  
(I can tell he’s a bit terrified. Understandable.)  
“Grian...I like that name.” This gets a smile out of him. I notice he reaches for those crisps again. I take them before he can.  
“I think these crisps are what made you vomit. I wouldn’t eat them any more.”  
He looks at me, with an emotion I’d describe as fear, but I think I’ve gotten the idea that he’s scared over to you already. Instead, he shakes it off with a question.  
“You’re British?”  
“Yep.” I’m still holding this bag so he can’t take them.  
“Me too.”  
I smile at him before opening the bag of crisps to see what’s in them, and how much he ate. As soon as I do, I throw them across the clearing.  
An unbearable stench is emitted from the bag, and the sliced potato looks mouldy and gone off. It probably went out of date years ago. Some of the plastic inside is flaking off, even.  
No wonder he was sick.  
“Jesus Christ, why were you eating those?! They stink!”  
He looks a bit disappointed. I know I probably just scared him, so I apologise. He nods but still quietly answers my question.  
“Because I have to.”  
I pause. He said it so plaintively, like a child. He looks up at me, waiting for a response.  
If I want to get him out of the situation of sitting in the middle of the forest, eating mouldy crisps, then I might as well ask why he’s here. Though I really don’t want to.  
“No pressure.” It’s my way of giving people a hint, but letting them know that they don’t have to tell me if they don’t want to. I did it a lot when I was studying.  
He grabs my hands. Hard. I notice that he’s sweating. It’s probably out of nerves, because he’s sweating so much that the red and blue sweatbands around his wrists aren’t catching it. Though that might be because they’re too big for him. The skin under them is irritated, most likely from scratching, or maybe even allergies. They look old, so of course they’re uncomfortable.  
“Are you sure I can tell you?” The waver in his voice tells me he might have a hard time trusting people. I nod in response.  
And on he goes.  
...  
I have to stop him after about five minutes. Because what he tells me could scar even the toughest person.  
He notices my face. “D-Did I talk for too long?” He’s already a mess as it is. I don’t like subjecting people to tell me what happened to them. It just makes their case worse as they remember everything.  
“No, it’s just...that’s really shocking, Grian.” I make sure to refer to him by his name.  
To watch your friend bleed out in a car crash, to ask the other one to help you only to be dressed up as him, to be forced to act like him, to make jokes like him, to get hurt and abused if he tried to act like himself...and that was purely in high school. Then escaping and living life normally until you got kidnapped and was forced to go through this again and again and again...Would anyone be able to get through that? I know I wouldn’t.  
He’s only been able to eat plastic and mouldy crisps for 2 weeks straight.  
Grian looks at me, since we’re both silent. He’s silently crying. I think I might start too.  
“I’m sorry...that was a lot to dump on you at once.” he says, quieter than ever now.  
“It’s alright. Hey, if it takes your mind off things, mind telling me about your life with your friends?”  
And so he tells me a completely different side to his life. His ability to build crazy structures, the pranks he’s pulled on his friends, friendly rivalries, the store, all the fun things he’s done. I allow him to go on, but unfortunately it only lasts for a few minutes.  
“And...yeah...” I thought I had cheered him up, but as his voice trails away I know all he can really think about is what’s going to happen.  
“Grian, I’m so sorry. I’m...I’m gonna stay here with you, if that’s okay?” I push some of the hair out of his face. He has heterochromia - one green eye, one blue. I can’t help thinking how beautiful it looks.  
He begins to protest immediately. “Wh-no, you can’t! There’s no point, I just need t-“  
I interrupt, placing my hand on his shoulder. “Grian. What he’s doing to you is borderline - no, outright domestic abuse. And I would never be able to forgive myself if I let you live like that any longer. I’ll get you back to your friends, I promise.”  
“Bu-bu-“ He goes quiet and looks down. “What will you do?”  
“Well I’ll get you out of he-“ Grian’s eyes go wide for a second and he slaps his hand over my mouth, before pushing me off the log and behind him. Then I hear the footsteps too.  
Sam is back.  
Sam is Grian’s abuser/kidnapper. Honestly, Grian made me think he was some 6’2 tall, buff guy who happened to like rabbits. So when I see him, I’m in for quite a shock.  
He has a child’s body, pretty much. I’d say he’s about average height, curly brown hair, quite -no, very skinny. Lots of scars, though. The white bunny ears on his head is his most defining feature. Yet I can tell by Grian’s quickened breathing that this is the guy.  
“Taurtis! I got you more Toritos!”  
(Toritos is possibly the worst name for a crisp brand I have ever heard. ‘Sam’ has this roguish charm to him too. And I don’t like it.)  
“O-okay...”  
Sam looks behind him, most likely checking that the coast is clear. Then he spots the discarded bag of Toritos that I threw across the clearing.  
Fudge. I’ve just gotten Grian into a whole lot of trouble.  
“Taurtis...did you eat these?”  
“Y-yes! I did! I just didn’t know what to do with the wr-“  
“YOU EAT IT, YOU DUMMY!”  
(Eating the wrapper. If this guy wasn’t insane enough.)  
“I-I-“  
Sam goes over to the discarded wrapper and picks it up.  
“Hey Taurtis...this feels full.”  
Grian’s fallen silent.  
“Did you lie to me?”  
(When do I jump in? I can’t just wait till he leaves...He’ll notice me by then! I have to stop this!)  
“N-no! I promise I ate them, I promise I pr-“  
Grian just repeats the whole ‘I promise I promise’ thing repeatedly. It has no effect on Sam, who keeps inching closer.  
I mentally get ready to fight.  
“WAIT N-“  
“You’re nothing, remember that.”  
I only spot the knife when he brings it down.  
It all happens so quickly. I hear Grian’s scream as I jump up from behind the log and take the blow in my arm instead. It’s my dominant arm, but that doesn’t matter.  
It goes quiet in the vicinity.  
“Leave him alone.” I hear the words coming out of my mouth before I have the chance to regulate them.  
Sam is in plain shock. I’m about 2 inches taller than him. Probably a few years older too. I can hear Grian’s shocked sobs from behind me, and there’s my own heart beating faster than it ever has.  
He pulls out the knife and the pain instantly hits me. I have never been stabbed, full on stabbed before. I’ve been beaten up, cut, nearly exploded (many times). But none of that can compare to the pain of this.  
Still, I’m so angry, I merely twitch. I can feel the blood. Justin (and possibly Jem, if it’s that bad) will get so pissed at me when I return to the lab. Oh well.  
“And who are you to interfere with me and my best friends private business?” he asks, attempting to seem threatening. I might be scared normally, but not this time.  
“Name’s DanTDM.”  
Sam cocks his head to the side. “Dan..TDM?”  
“That’s me. And I don’t really think you should be feeding your so called friend mouldy crisps, don’t you agree? Friends would give their friends in-date food, at least.” Just play it cool, Dan. Play it like you’re his elder.  
“They’re all he eats though!”  
I point to the vomit bag behind him. It’s slightly spilled out.  
“And now he’s extremely malnourished. I smelt that bag. Ew.”  
I have a feeling that if I don’t get my stab wound checked soon, I’ll bleed to death. That doesn’t matter right now, although I do feel like I’ll fall over if I don’t get checked.  
“E-EW?!” He attempts to bring the knife up to my neck, but I step back.  
“I’ll give you a deal. If I was my friend Think, he would have killed you by now. But I’m a whole lot nicer than him.” I smile, before opening up my jacket. I have multiple things in there. Including a taser and sword. “So I’ll make a deal with ya. You leave Grian alone...and I don’t kill you.” I hope to Peggy he goes along with this.  
“Wh-wHA? First of all, that’s not Grian, whoever that is! Second of all, I’m not giving up my best friend for...some stupid deal!”  
Shoot.  
“He’s not your best friend, not with how you’ve treated him. So I’d say you should leave him alone.” I get a grip on my sword. I’ll have to use it, I just know I will.  
“Try me.” He smiles at me.  
I barely have time to prepare when he lunges at me with the sword again. I dodge, but it rips my jacket. A ton of my stuff falls out.  
With a beep of my sword I slice back. He dodges. This guy’s experienced. He ends up stepping on one of the samples I had collected, so now that’s ruined.  
He’s definitely got the upper hand here.  
A few bouts of mindless swinging and I’m on the floor. This has not gone well for me.  
I’m not a fighter. That’s Justin. I’m the brains to his brawn (and we call James the breeder).  
I know for a fact though that I can still get Grian out of here. And so I do.  
“Grian!” I call out to him. He’s backed up against a tree, shaking. “Run! I’ll catch up!” I point in the general direction of the lab. Grian briskly nods and runs where I point. Even if I can’t go and help him, he’ll find the path I made a while back in no time. And he might even bump into Justin or Tray on the way, which would be perfect.  
Sam obviously runs after but I use my sword to trip him.  
My vision is getting blurry from blood loss. And I feel sick.  
I use the last of my strength to grab my taser from the floor. Justin gave it to me, telling me to use it on him whenever he was going too haywire. I’ve only used it on him once.  
I get the best aim I can in the state I’m in. There’s a knife in Sam’s hand and he’s about to bring it down.  
A loud zap echoes in my ears as the bunny boy in front of me falls to the ground.  
I grab a nearby broken branch and use it as a walking stick. I’m gonna fall over if I don’t. It’s a long walk from here back to the lab, an even longer walk when you’re injured.  
I gather my stuff and roll up my sleeve to see the wound. It’s deep, I can tell you that. If I don’t get it checked soon, I’ll die of blood loss. I roll up my sleeve as a makeshift bandage (I knew I should have brought some...) and go in the direction I pointed Grian in.  
Not long until I find him behind a tree. He hasn’t made it to the path I deviated off yet.  
“Heya, Grian.” I wave at him, and he seems extremely glad to see me.  
“Oh, you made it! I was worried…”  
“Well, I did.” I wink at Grian. “Do you want to take off your sweatbands and headphones?”  
He doesn’t even speak before he proceeds to throw the headphones behind him.  
“Oh my god I can hear properly again-”  
“Were you not allowed to take them off for sleeping?” He shakes his head. “Christ.”  
And so we walk. If I wasn’t attempting to be kind, or wasn’t bleeding out, I would have told him to run, just in case. But not this time. Eventually we find the path and make the trip back to the lab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here’s chapter 1! I hope people enjoy this random thing that appeared in my head out of nowhere,,,


	3. [CHAPTER 2 : GRIAN]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian meets Dan’s very quirky group of friends. It’s a little unsettling. But that’s cause he’s meeting so many people at once, right?

“It’s a long walk back, by the way, so I’d be prepared.” is what he told me. I nodded and wordlessly geared up for a long walk. I’d been on them a few times before, so what was this?

In the end, it didn’t feel like it lasted very long.

After walking with Dan for a bit, I began warming up to myself again. Feeling more comfortable in my body, feeling less nervous. Dan seemed to have taken care of Sam quite well, despite the fact he had the upper hand.

If he hadn’t, Sam would have chased us. 

Dan is patient with me, too. He’s about an inch shorter than I am, so it feels kind of strange how he’s the one looking after me. But he is, and he’s doing it well. He answers my questions and reassures me when I’m nervous.

“How do you deal with me so well..?” I ask. 

“I took an interest in psychology a while ago…” comes the response. He smiles at me.

“Oh, how come you didn’t go into that industry then?”

“Well, I guess the paranormal was too much of a call for me, huh?” He laughs a little, and I laugh with him.

And so we keep on walking. Dan sometimes stops and wipes his newly dyed red arm down. He’s so pale, it stands right out. 

After some walking and aimless small talk Dan lets out a yelp as someone jumps on him. I’m about to scream, but I then notice it’s a villager and shut my mouth. 

“Geez, Tray!” Dan hugs them and they turn their attention to me. 

The villager lets out a grunt that I obviously cannot understand. Dan seems to follow along just fine, though. Eventually, the villager notices me and turns. Now I can see them a bit better, I think they’re a librarian. They grunt something before Dan cuts them off.

“You can’t just say that!” Did he just do what I think he just did?

I jump in, while completely lost, to introduce myself. “My name’s Grian….and, uh, what’s your name?” I’m not in the best mindset at the moment, so I roll with whatever comes out of my mouth.

“His name’s Dr. Trayaurus!” Dan says. “But that’s a hassle, so you can exclude the ‘Dr.’ part. Come inside!”

I hadn’t taken a look at the lab, to be honest. But now I get a look at it, I can’t help but let out a gasp.

It’s huge. It’s well designed and extremely modernised, too. They both had their careers in mind when they made this.

“Damn…” 

“Glad you like it. We need to get you patched up, so…” Trayaurus comes over to my side. “Dan’s already gone inside, wanna come in?”

“Yeah, let’s.”

Once we head in, I spot all the intricate details. The pattern in the stained glass roof, the dotted gold blocks on the floor, the jungle hedges contrasting with the pristine floor. It’s great.

I notice Dan is frantically talking with his other friends, who the majority of are much taller than he is. The girl who I assume to be his wife is around his height, though. 

I go over.

“Right, Justin, you better be nice.” I hear another female say.

Dan has a really large group of friends, for someone who lives in the middle of a forest. There’s his wife, of course. And a tall dark brunette dude wearing a bandana. He honestly looks like a ninja. 

Then there’s another two. They’re wearing matching teal clothes, so I assume they’re related, if not by blood then by marriage. They’re older than the others, too. 

“Alright, Grian, these are my friends. There’s a lot, I know.” He laughs as he takes me over to them. “But I’m close with all of them, so..”

I nod as a response. “Rachelle, ThnxCya, Thinknoodles. Jemma’s my loving wife.” He points to each person respectively. Rachelle and Thinknoodles are the twinning couple, ThnxCya is the ninja. I also notice Rachelle and Jemma aren’t referred to by their playernames. I assume they don’t have their own, or they named themselves after their husbands. A lot of wives name themselves after their husbands. Don’t ask me why, it’s not some dominance thing though. 

I can’t judge, cause I just go by GrianMC.

“Have fun here, Grian.” ThnxCya says, smiling at me. I think he’s British too. “Yeah, enjoy it while it lasts.” Thinknoodles says, looking me up and down.. I’m instantly taken aback by his voice. Not just because it doesn’t fit him, although it really doesn’t cause he sounds so young. 

He has the exact same tone of voice as Sam.

Kind of high pitched and childish...I get a shiver up my spine but I remain strong. “I will.” 

He pats me on the back and heads behind me. I can hear him mutter something, but I don’t know what. Whatever it is, it earns a sound of indignation from Rachelle. 

Dan comes up to me. “So that’s my extremely strange group of friends. First impressions?”

“Well they all seem nice…” I say, but there’s still a waiver in my voice which Dan catches onto.

“Yeah, it’s a bit nerve wracking.” He looks over to Think, who is still behind me. They shoot each other a look of what, disdain? Confusion? Then Think runs over to Dan and grabs his arm.

Oh right. Dan is bleeding out.

“Uh….” Dan looks sheepish, and I’m reminded of me and Sam’s relationship whenever I did something that he wouldn’t normally let me do.

I take a step back.

“The hell did you do?!” Is that directed towards me or Dan? 

“No matter.” Rachelle says, stepping forward. “I’ll grab a bandage.”

Dan nods as a response. “You’re annoyed.” he says, to Think.

“Well yeah, stop getting yourself injured!” Think is pissed. I wonder why he’s the person Dan used to threaten Sam.

It’s a little terrifying how someone who appears older and more feeble than the rest could possibly be the aggressive, fighting one of the group. I guess he stayed in good shape from when he was younger.

“You get yourself injured both physically and mentally every time you protect someone. Can’t I do the same?” Dan retorted. 

I’m about to laugh, but I catch myself.

“Well-“ Think’s cut off by Rachelle’s return. She quietly bandages up his arm, and we’re all in an awkward silence for a while. It’s interrupted by ThnxCya.

“So, where’d you come from, buddy?” He smiles at me. He looked sort of menacing at first. Now he doesn’t. 

“Um….”

“Don’t worry, Grian.” Dan says, looking at me. “I’ll be the one who explains.”

“You sure?” I say, cocking my head to the side.

“Sure.” 

Think leans back against the table behind him. A robot suddenly turns on behind the desk, and looks over to him.

“What do you want, Justin?” it says to him. Oh, he’s the Justin person. I think back to what the others said about him. He was worried about Dan, but was told to be nice to me...god, does he remind me of Sam way too much. 

I shake it off. Dan would have told me if he was like th- no, nevermind, he would know to keep quiet.

Why can’t I just forget about that and try to make friends with this guy!?

“Nothing, Melbot. Just doing what I usually do.” He rolls his eyes.

“Justin, it’s a robot, do you think it can help itself?” Dan says. I assume this happens a lot. 

“Blah blah, you’ve told me this before. I’m not as well acquainted in robotics as you are, Dan.”

“You took chem-”

“I’ve basically forgotten everything from school Dan, I’m getting old.”

I have a feeling the two have a bit of a friendly rivalry, like me and Doc. 

“Well okay then. Grian, I’ll grab you some water and maybe a sandwich, if that’s okay?” Dan walks past me towards the back of the lab. “And I’ll get you one of my t-shirts.”

“That’s great, Dan.” I wave him off. I notice Justin’s looking at me.

“You’re scared of me.” he states, looking right into my eyes. Has that been on my face this whole time or has he read my thoughts?

“What? N-no…” I say, but I can’t help myself from stuttering. The fact that he was even able to tell I was scared of him takes me aback. 

“Yes you are.” He narrows his eyes at me.

“Justin, please.” says his wife, coming to his eyes. “He’s new here, just give him a break.”

“I’m trying to be nice.” He sighs, and looks a bit sorrowful. Or is that annoyance?

“Really, now?” 

“Get off my butt.” He looks over to me. “I’ll warn you in advance. I’m not the nicest person ever, so if I put you off, just let me know, alright?” 

“I will.” He gives me a smile and a wink which is oddly charming.

“Justin’s a nice person when he puts his mind to it.” Dan says while coming back, and giving Justin a little nudge on the way back. The laugh they both share reminds me of Mumbo and I, and it makes me feel a bit better. Maybe he isn’t all so bad.

Dan gives me a sandwich which I’m unsure of the contents of and some water. 

“Is this good enough?” he asks me. “The sandwich is a cheese sandwich, I didn’t want to be too risky.

“It’s perfect, thank you.” He hands the foodstuffs over to me and I dig right in. Oh my god, I actually haven’t had something like this in ages. It feels like years. 

It is literally just a cheese sandwich, something I could easily make while at home, but I’ve been so starved of anything but the most disgusting crisps that could have ever existed that I just can’t help myself. I manage to eat the whole sandwich before downing the whole glass of water.

I splutter a bit before looking up. Dan’s pitiful gaze hits me hard. I notice that Justin and Rachelle are conversing in a jumpy manner behind him, but I ignore it.

“I’m sorry, I’m staring.” Dan shakes his head. “It’s just...well...I’ve never seen anything like your situation before. And I’ve seen a lot.”

I sigh. “I’ve been through a lot, I know.” Dan passes me the t-shirt, and I quickly dump it on, not bothering to take off Taurtis’s, though now that I think about it I probably should have. Compared to the fact this t-shirt is a bit small and the one underneath is too big, it’s uncomfortable.

“Uh...maybe you should have taken off that t-shirt first?” ThnxCya asks jokingly. 

“Yeah, probably should have.” I quickly wriggle out of the t-shirt on top and hold it over my shoulder.

“You can head into the spare room.” Jemma says, with a point. She must be British as well, her accent’s quite thick. 

I give her a nod and run in.

I close the door to see a simple white room with a single bed and a houseplant. Not much of anything, but I guess it’s spare. 

I quickly throw off Taurtis’s top, but after I get a long look at it. It’s still way too big for me, Taurtis being six foot after all. I do miss him.

I wish we could have had a nicer school life. I wish we weren’t being pushed around all the time. There were times when we were just normal high schoolers, times where we talked about girls. But the times where we were fearing for our lives outweighed that.

I was lucky I could escape to Evo, and then Hermitcraft. I really was.

I wonder where Taurtis disappeared off to.

(What if he was dead?)

(No, he can’t be.)

Looking at the people who’ve saved me, I think I can rebuild what I’ve just momentarily lost. It was only for two weeks, and I’ll need some time to recover, then I can go back to Hermitcraft Isles, right?

...Won’t Sam be looking for me, though?

No matter. I dump on the T-shirt Dan gave me. It’s a little small and it’s teal instead of my usual red, but I don’t think that matters. After all, I somewhat resemble myself again, right?

I’ll need a bandage for some of these scars, I’m sure.

I think I’ve been itching my wrists too much to be safe. I can get an ice pack, if these guys are as good with safety as they’ve already shown me.

I leave the room and Dan links arms with me.

“Feeling better?” He asks.

“Much better.” I answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was kinda fast, but if you check the release dates on Wattpad you’ll get it lmao  
> Anyways yeah here’s chapter 2  
> A few people might be confused by my portrayal of Think, I won’t explain that for spoilers but it will be explained.  
> See ya’ll next chapter! Which I have no idea what I plan for it


	4. [CHAPTER 3 : DAN]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan worries about his friends thoughts about the newcomer and enjoys some science.

I am, of course, concerned for Grian. While he might not show it, I know his mental state is...going to be something. Things are gonna be hard for a few days as he returns back to normal. But during that phase, I’ve got to chauffeur him as smoothly as possible.

And what of the others? Jemma and James seem to have taken the newcomer quite well, however Jem is concerned about how long we’ll be able to look after him for, seeing as we don’t really have much room for the guy. I’ve got to keep all these factors in mind. I’m used to pets, not _people!_ James says he wants to get to know Grian well, at least. The two seem quite similar personality wise, somewhat calm and quiet but can be reckless if needed (I think Grian’s reckless anyways, from what he told me of his adventures he sure sounds like it.) so hopefully they’ll get along.

Trayaurus, on the other hand, is _extremely_ enthusiastic. He’s electric, saying that he might help by getting Grian involved in some of our experiments, so on so forth. I think he might enjoy that, looking at how enthusiastic he is about redstone.

(During me and Grian’s small conversation when we met, he told me he never had a knack for red stone. I didn’t want to interrupt him in that moment of happiness, but internally I couldn’t relate more.)

Rachelle was silent during our conversation, only really speaking about Grian’s medical state. I don’t know what she’s thinking, though I’m sure she’s worried for the same reason I am.

Justin. How’s he gonna take it? James literally said _‘Justin’s already started being aggressive!_ ’ I mean, I can’t blame him, but still...he needs to try, at least. Try and be nice. But knowing him, it’ll take some time for him to settle down. 

I overheard their conversation about Grian being scared of him. Hopefully they are on good terms by the end of this.

Speaking of the end, how long will this last? I’m hoping within the week. Grian will have to stay with us while we bandage his injuries, sure. But what about after? Will he be able to return home? Does he _know_ where home is? 

This is gonna be a long, long ride. But we have to stick through it.

“So...what now?” Think asks.

“Maybe we should take a break from experiments for now. We should check Grian’s health a bit more and let’s resume tomorrow.” Rachelle says, looking at us. She’s overly formal.

I look at Grian for his opinion. He’s kind of just staring into space.

“Woah, someone’s shorter than me for once.” He responds, almost out of nowhere, but he’s smirking at me.

“HEY-”

I’m in a state of shock for a second as James, being six foot and not understanding the struggles of a short person as he’s basically taller than everyone, bursts into laughter.

“Should we carry on..?” Jemma asks, interrupting the moment of comedy.

“Right, I got distracted.” I begin, but James is still laughing. Justin elbows him hard and he stops.

Grian appears a bit taken aback by Think resorting to violence to shut Cya up. I can understand why. 

“Y-yes, let’s...your experiments. What do you mean?” He cocks his head to the side, clearly intrigued. Or purely wanting a distraction from Think and James who are now playfully nudging each other in the background.

“Oh right!” I look over at Trayaurus and nod at him. He beams before beginning.

“Basically, me and Dan have this contraption that we made, yeah? And the contraption senses how much power and magical energy an object or area has, yeah? So Dan noticed one of the usual plants we grow outside had a bit of a purple glow, and when we checked it there was a huge magical signal! We’re trying to figure out what caused it!!” When he’s done with his little tangent he claps his hands like a child (Which to be honest, I think we’re both kids at heart). “Hey, you might be able to help us! Do you know anything about magic?”

Jemma quickly whispers something to Grian before he answers. “No, I don’t.” 

“Well, we’ll be happy to teach you the basics of magic!” I add.

“Hold on.” Grian looks at me. “I thought you said you were a paranormal scientist. Not a sorcerer.” I know he means it as a joke, but to be honest I’m kind of offended. But I digress. 

”Ah. We work with magic too, I guess.” I scratch the back of my head. “A lot of things in the paranormal sector do end up relating to magic in some way shape or form. I won’t lie, it’s a bit repetitive.” Grian laughs a little, then stands up straight. 

“Right then! What are we waiting for? Let’s get to it!” he laughs. He’s super enthusiastic and I’m impressed. He’s gotten over everything quickly.

“Hold up.” Rachelle steps forward. “I hate to be depressing here, but we need to make sure nothing you guys are working with will hurt Grian or make any of his wounds worse.” Think coughs. “And your stab wound too, Dan.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine!” I respond. “We’ve done similar experiments before with even more toxic equipment when I’ve had a stab wound in my stomach! It’s fine!”

“Woah, you really must stick by ‘the show must go on’, huh?” Grian asks. 

“Eh, working on things you love can be distracting.” I answer. It’s true. Whenever I fall on tough times, you can probably find me aggressively pumping out music sheets or better yet, experiment write ups. It’s a coping mechanism. 

“I agree.” Rachelle nods. Then she winks at me, and I know why she stopped us from going there in the first place.

Grian is obviously not prepared for what’s coming. Me and Trayaurus make eye contact -he must have caught Rachelle’s signal. We exchange glances of anticipation. It’s like we’re both counting out loud, but we’ve done this so many times we already know the count. Grian looks puzzled and possibly annoyed that we’re stalling, Jem and James give a knowing face and Think sighs in...whatever is going through that man’s head.

Yes, I did just describe in detail what happened in 3 seconds. 

On the mental count of three, me and Tray shout in (not exactly perfect) sync:

“TO THE TESTING CHAMBER!”

And we both collapse into laughter at Grian’s delightedly surprised face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second time uploading! First time the formatting didn’t work. Anyways, I’m so sorry for the long wait! I lost motivation to complete this and tbh I still haven’t got it back. I pushed forward though and finished this chapter! It’s a lot shorter though. Sorry.  
> Anyways, hope you enjoy the little filler!  
> \- Dan  
> (1090 Words)


	5. [CHAPTER 4 : GRIAN]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Experiments, experiments...Grian is excited for what is to come.

I’ll admit. Dan, and what was his name, Traysaurus? Well, he and his villager friend’s shout did catch me off guard, but it was kinda funny. It takes us about a minute to calm down over the comedic timing but once we do we actually head into the ‘testing chamber’ I am yet again taken aback by the majestic magnitude of this place. The intricacy of it all astounds me.

Something cold brushes up against my leg. I look down to see a dog yapping at me. I’m not a dog person so I step away. Then I get a better look at it.

It’s a skeleton.

It’s all I can do not to scream, instead I just stagger back in fear. What is Dan doing with a skeleton dog? Why is it here?

“Oh, Grim, you scared him!” Dan says oddly calmly, going up to the dog. “Grian, this is Grim. Grim, Grian.”

As soon as the dog is introduced to me, he comes up to me and sniffs me for a bit. It’s uncomfortable. 

“Sorry, he’s a bit territorial. He won’t hurt you though, I promise!” Dan smiles at me. 

“Didn’t think he would.” I lie through my teeth. I hate to be lying to the one person who took me in but I don’t want to upset him.

“You looked like you thought he would. Not a dog person, eh?” He sees right through me, apparently.

“I’m more comfortable around cats.” I respond honestly.

“Well, that’s something we can agree to disagree on. I get freaked out around cats.” Dan laughs, and I do too. He really makes me feel like we’re friends. He makes me feel like I’m at home here. I wonder whether he’s had to take people in before.

“Let’s stop getting sidetracked.” Dan says, in a way that he’s sort of talking to himself. “Let me show you some of the documents.”

Dan pulls out a device from his jacket - where I assume his inventory is physically - which looks a bit like a gun but it’s super wide at the end. What’s the word for it...oh right! A megaphone.

He pulls a trigger at the bottom and it shoots a huge beam of light towards some papers. He uses it to move said papers over to him. He then holds the papers before he lets go of the trigger.

“What was that?!” I ask.

Dan laughs.  _ Is he laughing at me? Please don’t be laughing at me. _

“It’s called a P-Gun.” He says, smiling. 

“Ah, a pee pee poo poo gun.” I say before I can stop myself. 

Even if I can’t understand him, I just know Traysaurus cries out something in annoyance and me and Dan yet again burst into laughter. It lasts for about 10 seconds before Dan gets a word out.

“We- we need to keep focused!” We both kind of breathe in sync while staring at each other for a second. We’re about to burst into laughter again before Traysaurus comes over to us. 

“The P stands for placement. It allows us to move things.” Dan says after nodding to his friend, who is shaking his head. “Sorry, Trayaurus.”  _ Ohhh, that’s his name!  _ “Let’s move on. Have a read of these notes.” He passes the papers over to me. 

I give them a quick scan. It’s kinda confusing, but at least I can read Dan’s handwriting. Unlike mine, haha.

Basically, the main gist of it is that normal objects such as wood, flowers and grass have been emitting strange forces of power (I think he means the magic?) which have never been seen around this area before. Their main thoughts on what caused this are enchanted crystals. 

“Enchanted crystals, eh?” I muse, looking up. 

“Yep.”

“They exist?”

“Had to try and stop a super villain from taking over the world with one. Ended up having to destroy it. Affected my psyche a bit for the next few days.” Dan seems to genuinely enjoy looking back on his adventures. He must have been on a lot.

“Woah, I’d love to see them!”

“Wish we could but they’re pretty rare. I didn’t want to destroy the one we saw but I had to.”

Dan walks over to the machine that’s stacked up in the middle and pulls out a flower. “Look at this!” 

I go over and he’s correct, it does look weird. For a flower that was picked, it still hasn’t wilted at all. There’s a purple-black glow around the flower too, and the leaves look shiny. I reach my hand out to touch it but there’s a zap when I get close to it. So I try to touch it again and it electrifies me. 

“Oh right, For someone who doesn’t deal with this kind of power often you may have some difficulties with touching stuff.” Dan says, after noticing me jerk my hand back. “I’ll show it to you.”

He runs over and picks it up with ease. He doesn’t even have gloves on.

That...that is concerning. He’s been around electrifying chemicals so often that he’s immune to it now. That’s scary.

“You okay?” Dan asks. Yet again, Dan reads my mind.

“I’m good. Just...how come it’s not hurting you?”

“I’m used to it. It doesn’t hurt anymore.” He responds. He sounds far off as he does, and I get a sudden shiver down my spine. What if he’s insane? Has he damaged his health so much for the purpose of experimentation?

Now that I know these things, I start to notice other things about Dan. How unnervingly pale he is, how calm he seems to be when getting weird, maybe even toxic chemicals get on his skin. He must notice my face because he keeps reassuring me that he’s safe, it’s safe, he knows what he’s doing. 

I’m not quite sure. 

Whatever, because I kinda just stand there and watch as Trayaurus and Dan do the fun stuff. I don’t mind, I think they’re much less likely to blow stuff up like I am. I notice Trayaurus is prone to dropping things though. 

I, sure enough, get an idea of how the experiment works. They’re just trying to find the source.

The hours rush by like minutes, but sometimes there’s slow moments. Like that one time Think snuck up behind me and just stood there. Or the time where James came in singing some song about home. That put a pain in my heart. But I couldn’t help but notice James is really good at singing. 

It didn’t matter because before I knew it it was 9pm and the day was up. 

“Eventful day.” Jemma says, while Dan cleans himself up (his hair has gotten awfully messy). 

“Uh huh.” Dan nods. 

“Thank you so much for taking me in, Dan.” I say, heading for the door. “But I should probably leave…”

“No, it’s okay! I think you should stay with us for a bit. So everything can die down before you head back home.” Dan comes over to me and rests his hand on my shoulder. 

“True that.” He’s right. Sam is probably still out on the prowl for me. Probably really angry of my running away. I’m screwed if I leave.

“Do you have a place to stay, if so?”

“Yeah, course we do!” Dan takes my hand and shows me to the room I went to earlier. “Did you forget there’s a bed here?” 

“I thought this was your room?” I ask.

“Nope! I live next door. I only use this room for emergencies.” He smiles. “And your safety is an emergency.”

“Wow, thanks Dan, you’re very kind.”

“I agree.” I turn to Think who just appeared behind me all of a sudden.

“Think, don’t come up behind us like that!” Dan cries, annoyed.

“Who cares? You should pay more attention..” 

I guess he’s right. We should have heard him.

“Right.” I respond, though a little annoyed and shaken. Whatever. I have a room now!

Despite the intricacy of the main lab this room is just like normal. A black bed with a slightly wilting red tulip is in the center and then a closet is on the side. I understand why it’s so simple, really.

“There’s everything you need in the closets, and the bathroom is down there.” He points to an iron door by the side.

“Thank you so so much Dan. You’re such a great help.” 

“No problem, Grian. And by the way, tomorrow we will hopefully be able to head outside and find new stuff to look into! Night!”

And so he shuts the door, leaving me alone in my room.

God I’m so grateful for him. If it weren’t for Dan I’d still be stuck in that stupid cabin, eating crisps until I die. If it was anyone else I doubt they would have helped me.

What about the hermits? They’ll still be looking for me. Have they figured out I’m not in the server anymore? Have they figured out I don’t have my communicator? I hope they’ll find me soon.

I don’t know how long I’ll be here but it’s gonna be a long ride, that’s for sure.

~~~~~~

_I want his forgiveness. I don’t want to be the villain. I want to just be friends. I’m sorry._

~~~~~~

_I hate him, and I hate myself for hating him. Why can’t I get over my stupid ego and just make up with him already?_

~~~~~~

_I want to get to know him more. Does he like me? I’m not sure. I hope he does though, I feel like we have a lot in common._

~~~~~~

_I sincerely hope he enjoyed today. I hope he likes me as he does Dan. Maybe I should talk to him more._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No I’m not motivated to make this again I’m just writing it when I can because I’ll admit some motive is there but not much haha  
> Little bit more fluff to satisfy the heart. I bet you I’ll take another month hiatus oops  
> Anyways, I wonder what the end paragraphs mean?  
> Also you are yet again getting this earlier than Wattpad. Phone posting doesn’t work there.  
> Also I dunno if that one part with Think speaking Indonesian was correct - I used Google Translate so if anyone can correct me please do. Think did actually live there for some time, go check his DML out for confirmation!  
> (1638 words)  
> LATER EDIT: I’ve removed the section about Think speaking Indonesian. I’ve changed my lore since I wrote that, soo. Sorry! Course the word count change hut I dunno to what  
> \- Dan


	6. [CHAPTER 5 : DAN]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan can’t sleep and joins James at the campfire for a night of singing and concern.
> 
> Also known as, the chapter that derailed.

Before we all went to bed that night, I told everyone about Grian’s situation, and how I planned to help. It earns wary sympathy from everyone, even Think who I think hasn’t liked him much from the start. 

“Explains why he was so scared of me.” He said, sounding pensive but also annoyed, a little. At least he gets it now?

Then we headed our separate ways. Me and Jem went to the house, where, in silence, we had a light dinner (just some sandwiches, and the pugs had some dog food) and headed to bed. While Jem is taking some time to doze off(I noticed when I went to the bed cause she got there before me), I fall asleep as soon as I hit the pillows.

Not for long.

My dreams that night are plagued with nightmares, which I haven’t had in a while. Mainly centering around Grian. Grian going through those horrible things. But rather than Grian being the one that is dealing with it, it’s me. Being ripped away from my friends to be tortured by someone who is obsessed with me and being forced to do things I would hate...man. I just...I just can’t understand how Grian took this abuse. 

I wake up after a few hours of it in a cold sweat. I look at the clock with my tired eyes and can just make out  _ 01:16 _ . Yay.

But then I hear the singing.

_ You only need a torch when the light is low, _

_ Only need the sun when the zombies groan, _

_ Only know you love her when you let her go… _

“Who..?” I say, under my breath as to not wake Jemma up. Listening closer, I realise it’s James. 

Right. Because who else would be singing at this hour in the morning? James would. Unless that’s Grian’s kinda thing too, but you know. 

Wait. Oh, I’m stupid, or I’m stupidly slow.

_ Only think I’ve one last chance to show _

_ Only feeling lost and so alone, _

_ Only know your lover when you let them go… _

That’s James’ ‘song’. The song he’s known for. His favourite song. He sings it when someone/something new comes into his life, or when he’s feeling lonely and needs to talk. It’s either in a happy mood or a sad mood and usually you can tell. Right now I can’t.

Either way, guess who’s grabbing a jacket and making the trip into the unknown to talk to James.

I carefully shut the door as to not wake Jem and the pugs before I go in the general direction of the noise. I’m pulled deeper into the darkness as I slowly begin to regret not bringing a flashlight. 

The forest is always creepier at night. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. It’s so shady, so breathable, has tons of good hiding spots and is smack bang in the middle of a plains, acacia, desert and savanna. It’s perfect. However I hate it at night when I can’t see anything. Mobs come out at night and I can’t see anyone around. You never know if someone is behind you. 

Speaking of being behind you, sometimes I hear footsteps. I start running when I hear them which means I run straight into zombie, which I have to pummel off with my fists. Good thing I have enhanced strength from the crystal.

Soon enough I get to a fire. And, sure enough, James is singing while striking his guitar.

_ Staring at your picture from the past, replay moments from first to last _

_ Coz days go slow, and sleep so fast _

_ I see you when I close my eyes, hope you know how hard I tried _

_ Coz you know, I'll never say goodbye. _

_ You only need a torch when the light is low _

_ Only need the sun when the zombies groan _

_ Only know your lover when you let them go. _

_ Only think I've one last chance to show, only feeling lost and all alone _

_ Only know your lover when you let them go. _

“You want to talk?” I say, going up to James. He appears quite shocked at my voice, but then he relaxed at the realization it’s simply me. 

“Ah, so you heard my cry for help.”

“Everything okay?” I ask. 

“Not really, no.” I look over at him. He doesn’t appear to be crying, but looks down.

“What’s the matter?” 

“I don’t want to seem insensitive but I don’t know how to feel about everything. Like sure, I care for Grian a lot and I hope things get better for him but...I...well...I don’t think him staying with us is the best idea.” It takes him a bit, but he gets it out.

“What do you mean? Of course he’ll still be going outside…?”

“No, I don’t mean that. I mean, I just don’t think we should be housing him.”

I don’t get it. Grian needs help, doesn’t he?

“But we need to house him and help him! He’s scared!“ I find my voice quickening and musk elf getting more heated as I fumble out the words. “And what if Sam finds him again? I can’t let that happen, we need to help hi-“

James cuts me off with a strum of the guitar. C sharp major.

“How many friends did you say Grian has?” It’s an innocuous question.

“I can’t remember the exact amount, but it was a lot….”

“They’ll be looking for him, you know.”

I pause. 

“No no no, we were obviously-“

“He’s been out here for two weeks. Two weeks too long. We can help him heal here, for sure. But it can only be for so long.”

“That’s what Jemma worried about.”

“No, you don’t get it, do you?”

“Huh?”

“Grian...he’s in more danger with us than he is with his friends.”

“But Sam-“

“If we let him go home, then maybe he would be safer. After two weeks of him being kidnapped, especially in a tight-knit group like you described...security would shoot out of the window.” James looks down. “But you still don’t get it, do you…?”

“James-“ 

“You’ve always wanted to help others but you don’t always realise the consequences of your actions, do you? Sometimes helping others can make things worse, not better.”

“You’ve pondered about this for some time, haven’t you?” It comes out way more aggressively than I intended it to be. 

“This is why I’d hoped Think would have come out…”

“ _ Excuse me? _ ” No hate towards Think, but I don’t quite like being rejected like that. I don’t understand! I’m just trying to help, why can’t anyone understand that? I’m not trying to make things any worse than they are.

I’m making them  _ better.  _

“Do you know how much his friends are worrying about him right now? Forgive me for my cynicism, but they may start to give up slowly. I know that you want to give him time to heal, but you’re one to extend an hour of doing something to 6 hours.” James looks up at me with an expression I can’t piece together.

I’m blinded by my emotions. He seemed so calm about the situation, was he just lying? Does no one care? Am I delusional?

No, I’m not. I’m just trying to help, but apparently no one gets it. 

Just. Like. It. Used. To. Be.

“I get it!” I stand up, ready to leave. ”You’re not happy with him being here. It’s fine, I-“ 

“That is in no way what I meant.” James holds my shoulder. “I’m just worried about you.”

A pang goes through my heart. I get that funny feeling in my stomach when I get nervous or guilty. 

“I know exactly what you’re about to do. I tried to get it across to you in a way but you obviously didn’t see I how I do, so this may sting a little, but I think you’re about to be too selfless.”

“Too..selfless? You can never be too selfless!”

“You’re going to devote a lot of your time to looking after him, and that won’t help Grian at all. It’ll make it harder for him to get back up on his feet and come to terms with what happened here. Having everyone babying him might seem good in the short term, but not the long. You need to allow Grian to improve on his own. And sort out yourself too.” James looks far off into th campfire he set up.

“Looking after someone, especially as hard as you’re trying to right now and to baby him is going to hurt you too. It’ll make you sleepless as night, you’ll worry too much. I know from experience. Did you have a nightmare about him?” I nod. How does he know this kind of stuff? “Exactly. You’re worrying too much about him. Yes we can look after him but it needs to be free and calm. We can’t baby him, like you all but said we should. For him, and yourself.” He looks like he wants to say more but hasn’t. 

“I’m sorry.” I sound like a child who’s just been told off.

“No worries. Can you see it from my perspective?”

“Yeah, I can.” Again, still quiet.

James comes up to me and hugs me.

“Sorry if I came off a little harsh. I just want the best for both of you.”

“It’s alright, I get it. Now, do you want to finish the song?”

“Sure thing.”

I sit down, and James strums the guitar. And so we sing.

_ This world looks different in the dark, but with every ending will bring a fresh start _

_ You're never alone, coz you have my heart. _

_ Block to block I'll slay the mobs, I'll never lose you so you'll never feel lost _

_ I'm getting closer with every biome crossed. _

Throughout the penultimate chorus, I can’t help but notice how well me and James harmonise. Both of us have an affinity for music - we both took it in university, James as his main degree and mine as a minor - and I suppose it’s just what bonds us. We don’t get much time together without Justin around (I’m throwing a lot of shade on him, aren’t I?) so these kinds of short moments we get I treasure.

I do hear rustling here and there, but I elect to ignore it as we move into the final chorus.

_ You only need a torch when the light is low _

_ Only need the sun when the zombies groan _

_ Only know your lover when you let them go. _

_ Guess I took my one last chance to show, you'll never be lost and all alone _

_ Only know your lover when you let them go. _

James finishes off with some chords. That’s it. It’s eerily silent once we’re done, especially since the fire flickers out. I’m unnerved.

“Thanks, man.” I say, standing up again.

“You too. You got a torch?”

“No, I forgot to bring one.”

“Use mine.” James hands me his. “I know my way back.” James knows these forests, so I trust him.

“See you in the morning.” 

And so I quietly and quickly head back to my house, the odd rustling following me back, before I sneak in and take off my jacket and shoes slipping back into bed.

I should let myself go, like James said. I shouldn’t baby Grian. Just help him find his way home. I’m not a caretaker, rather a chauffeur.

Alright. James says I extend an hour to 6 hours. He’s right. I do.

So I promise myself this. I will only look after Grian for a week at maximum. Then we’ll start getting him home. Hopefully he’ll be home soon.

With a new aim, I drift off to sleep, music dancing in my mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said this chapter derailed A LOT. This was supposed to be a wholesome chapter with just some bonding between Dan and James and it became this confusing mix between angst and hurt/comfort and I’m puzzled to what midnight thoughts led to this but whatever. I hope this chapter wasn’t tooo confusing haha


	7. [CHAPTER 6 : GRIAN]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While looking for more experiment material, Grian and Justin run into a certain someone.

I wake up from a dream about Taurtis and Scar meeting. It’s a dream I have kind of often, so it doesn’t affect me too much though it was more vivid than usual. I wake up, expecting to be on the grass, but finding myself on a warm bed.

_ Hey, where- oh wait. _ Dan took me in.

Another wave of gratitude sweeps over me. I can barely stop myself from beaming. So I give a smile to no one and jump out of bed.

I get changed and get ready to start the day then I stretch my arms out and run outside of the room.

The whole group is already there, talking to each other. I feel a little embarrassed.

Dan waves at me and beckons me over. So I go join the cluster of people.

“Great to see you awake! If you’re hungry, the pantry’s over that way.” Dan points towards a wall. No door or nothing. Am I going mad?

“That’s a wall.” I state.

“Oh right. Melbot!” Dan waves towards the middle of the main room.

‘Melbot’, the receptionist robot, perks up. It appears to be an artificial intelligence. That must have been really hard to make, It even has a face! That probably has expressions!

“Melbot, please open the basement door!”

“Opening the basement door.” It responds, with a clearly automated female voice. The door opens.

“If you’re ever hungry, just ask Melbot to do that and head to the basement. Don’t touch any buttons you shouldn’t be!”

“I can’t keep promises!” I joke, which gets a laugh out of Dan. And I really can’t because I touch anything.

I go downstairs to a simple hallway with a red carpet, with each room scattered evenly with a sign and a picture to document each one. Hedges appear every two rooms or so. 

It’s stuff I’ve seen before. It’s quite common to have storage rooms such as this.

I don’t walk too far in before I spot the pantry. One pull of a lever and a swing of an iron door later, I’m in the room. I grab some golden carrots as I’m still not used to exotic foods outside the vanilla yet and head outside.

I’m about to turn back when I spot something glowing in the corner of my eye. Naturally I move closer. 

At the very end of the hallway sits a minecart. Which is glowing blue.

Weird. And funky. 

_ I’ll ask Dan more about it when I go up.  _ I think and rush upstairs. I appear just as Justin says “So who’s singing did I hear last night?”

“Singing?” I ask. I don’t recall any singing.

Dan and James go bright red.

“Uhhh, nothing.” James fumbles out. “You’re probably just hearing things.”

“But the singing was amazing.” Justin smirks. “Who else could have sung it?”

Dan and James go even redder.

“Well, anyways.” Dan quickly changes the subject. “We’re heading out today!”

“Out..?” I ask, after swallowing the bite of carrot I just had. “What do you mean, out?”

“Yeah! We’re hoping to again either find the source or find things with higher concentrations of power.”

Dan’s face changes a little.

“But we have to go in pairs because of everything.” Then he looks at me and Justin expectantly, and we both take the hint.

Oh. Oh no.

Justin raises his eyebrow. 

“Interesting choice.” Then he laughs. “I’ll take good care of you, kid.” Oh, he means me. He gives me a smile which I can read as genuine and honestly he feels like a dad right now. Again, maybe he isn’t so bad. 

Dan is partnered with James, Trayaurus is staying behind with Rachelle and Jemma just in case anything happens. Apparently Dan and Trayaurus were exploring during a previous experiment and something exploded so someone’s always on behind duty.

Then I remember the question I had for Dan. I ask him about the thing at the end of the hallway.

“Oh!” Dan laughs. “I’ll give you the short version. It’s a Diamond Minecart! It’s special to me.”

That’s all the explanation he gives. I’m not perfectly sure why it’s special to him but I decide not to dwell on it. After all, I’ve got bigger things to worry about. 

We get to going. Dan goes right, I go left. I keep my distance from Think a little.

And so we walk. Dan told me yesterday that they looked out for things with an aura so I was looking.

“Don’t worry, they’ve looted this area.” Think taps my shoulder. Then he looks at me in the eyes. I back away slightly.

“I’m sorry if I scared you when we met. I know I seem passive aggressive at times, but…”

_ Forget that passive, you just seemed aggressive.  _ I think. I nod in response.

“I know you’re not so comfortable with this. Dan knows you’re not comfortable around me. He only put us together because he knew I could protect you should anything go awry.”

Oh. I didn’t really think too much about Dan’s motivation. I kind of just thought he wanted Think and I to bond. Maybe he did. But if he also wants him to protect me…

We take the walk in silence. Sometimes Justin nudges me and points to flowers and strands of grass that I use gloves to pick up and put into a bag. It’s all very routine. 

We walk for about two hours. Nothing happens. It’s quite a boring two hours. We sometimes make small talk (I found out Think is allergic to cats) but it always dies down. At least, I know some more about him? But he’s still mysterious.

So when I heard a certain voice I froze.

“Taurtis?”

_ NONONONONONONO HE FOUND ME AGAIN _

I whip round to see the dreaded bunny’s brown eyes burning into mine. His ears perk up as we make eye contact. A slight smile creeps across his lips.

Why is he here!? Why is he hunting me? I throw my hands up in front of my face and slowly back away. 

Sam’s face falls for a second.

“Wait no, Gr-“

“DON’T HURT ME!” I cry out of instinct. 

“Wait, I’m not-“‘

Sam puts his hands up but not before a flash of turquoise appears and suddenly Think has Sam on the ground, diamond sword at his throat. Think’s eyes narrow and I get a flash of emerald,

“You heard him, alright?”

Sam is shaking a bit. He actually looks...scared? I mean, that’s kind of a good thing. 

My eyes land on the sword. It’s incredibly sharp and shiny. Looking carefully, there’s something etched into it but I can’t tell what. Doesn’t matter. My focus changes to the scene at hand.

“Wait, no! I’m sorry!” Did he just say he was sorry? “I was trying to explain that I was just angry and going crazy but I-“

“I don’t care.”

“W-Who are you?” Sam stutters out. His ears droop and his already pale skin gets paler. 

“Names Thinknoodles. That shouldn’t be your interest right now.”

Sam looks over to me with a pleading expression. But I know better than to trust him and I slowly back away. Plus this whole situation scares me.

“Are you friends with that DanTDM guy?” Sam says. He says it in a normal way but Think just appears to get angrier. 

“Yes, and?”

Wait.

_ ‘If I was my friend Think, he would have killed you by now.’ _

By the way Sam shrinks and the quote from Dan running through my head, it clicks. 

Justin may as well kill Sam right now. And it won’t be a quick death.

I’m frozen. What if he does? I don’t want to watch anyone die, but then again it’s Sam...but it’s Sam...and what if he’s still bloodthirsty? My heart rushes fast and my blood runs cold. Justin probably will kill Sam right now. What motivation does he have not to kill him? None, that’s what.

Sam equips his knife and tries to counter attack. He brings it up to the sword at his throat. I hear the clink which sends a shiver down my spine. Justin just grabs it with his left hand and throws it away.

“Oh right.” Think gives a malicious smirk. “I’m left-handed.”

Left handed? I try to focus on why Think would hide that. Would it be to trick Sam into thinking he’s safe, and that if Think was disarmed he would gain an upper hand?

I swear I see his eyes flash blood red.

“Ple-Please, I just wanted to apolo-“

“I  _ don’t care _ .” Justin repeats, clenching his teeth.

Gripping his sword in his dominant hand, he raises it up above his head, like an executioner. My body refuses to move and I feel my breathing quicken and I squeeze my eyes shut and I hear the swing of the sword and I expect to hear a scream from Sam and I expect to open my eyes to see blood but then I hear Justin cry out instead.

“AGH!” I open my eyes to see Justin staggering back, his sword falling on the floor. Sam quickly gets to his feet, mouths something at me and runs away as fast as possible. But not before he picks up his knife.

“Gosh darn it, he got away.” Justin looks at me. “Sorry.”

I try to slow down my breathing a little. 

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“Yeah. He kneed me in the guts. I’ve never had someone do that to me before.”

“Before?” I immediately ask, but then stop myself. I don’t really want to know about him killing someone so I quickly blurt out after ‘Never mind forget about it.”

Think backs up against a tree and slips down onto it, evidently in pain. He points at a flower which is similar to all the blades of grass I’ve collected so far and I pick it. Another shiver runs down my spine as I do.. Why is this all feeling so oddly familiar? Whatever. 

“Well, it’s getting to our meet-up time. We should head back to the lab to get lunch.” Think says after recovering.

“Sure.” I mumble.

And so we walk back. It’s faster than on the way there due to the fact we’re not eagerly looking around but it feels like ages. I can barely look at Think. He mumbles some stuff while walking. He’s sort of talking to himself. I hear him say things like  _ ‘Maybe I did it wrong’  _ and  _ ‘You really are annoying.’  _ No idea what he means.

I get excited but nervous when I see the huge stained glass structure appearing over the trees, and I speed up. Justin follows. We hit the clearing out in front of it. Dan and James are already there. I take a sigh of relief when I see the person that I truly think deeply cares about me. 

“Took you guys some time! Did you find anything?” Dan asks. The sudden mood change from solemn to joyous shocks me a little and I snap out of my endless pit of worry.

“Oh, uh, yeah!” I get out and I shove the bag into Dan’s arms. James cocks his head to the side and nudges Dan slightly.

“Nice- Hey, are you okay?” He’s obviously sensing something’s up, maybe with James’ guidance. “Did...did something go wrong?”

The two exchange glances. Think looks over to me expectantly. I don’t say anything, so he decides to speak up in the silence. It takes him a thought and a breath, but he gets the words out.

“Yeah, things went wrong.”

Dan’s face shifts into one of concern and worry, while I stand sheepish in the corner. I wish I could tell him it straight, but at the same time I don’t want him to know.

”What went wrong…?” His voice goes a bit quiet at the end.

“Sam came back.” Justin says it all matter-of-fact, like it happens all the time.

Dan’s blue eyes go wide like oceans and his face turns pale. Very pale.

By the way he stutters out his next sentence, I know he is terrified of what happened back there.

“L-Let’s go inside and talk this over, shall we?” 

———

_ Did I mess it up? Probably. _

_ ——— _

_ What happened now…? _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the angst is back back back  
> Yes Sam did try and apologise   
> Yes Think is a bit of a butt   
> I tried really hard to get this to 2000 words so that’s why it’s overly detailed ummm yeah


	8. [CHAPTER 7 : JAMES]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get narration from our resident irrelevant ninja ThnxCya as things get heated.

The feeling of shock that sets in after they told me that Sam had returned leaves me desolated. I feel so sick internally. My gut feels like it is caving in on itself, going to collapse in anticipation. And dread. And I have no idea why.

I try to hide my emotions. I mean, I’ve done it for most of my life.

I’ll admit. I don’t know much about this ‘Sam’ guy and I’ve never had to deal with him first hand like Dan, Grian and Justin (apparently). But I have a feeling it didn’t go well. Dan was pretty badly injured after the first encounter. Who knows what happened now? He’s bound to be vengeful.

We go inside. I step back from the three and let them do their own thing.

A pang of jealousy hits my heart. I feel this often and I always try to sway it off. I always felt like I was the third wheel, the one no one cared about. But this story isn’t about me, is it, reader? You’re here for a story about Dan and Grian. Probably Grian. I’ll let you have that story, then.

Justin pulls something out from his pocket when Dan asks (well, he stutters it out) to know more. The speaker and the red light instantly tells me it’s a recording device. How come I wasn’t in on this? Dan and Justin must have come up with it. In case anything happens, record it!

Ugh. Smart, but it gets on my nerves. 

Dan skips through some of the recording until you hear a high pitched voice that’s asking for Grian. Which isn’t Justin. Yeah, that must be Sam. I step closer to listen in.

From what I gather, our neighborhood bunny tries to apologise to Grian, Grian freaks out, Justin goes ballistic on the dude, nearly kills him, Sam kicks him in the...privates…and runs away. No visuals but I assume that it was quite a scene to watch. 

Dan doesn’t seem to agree. He shoves the recording device back into Justin’s outstretched hand. He then crosses his arms. 

Oh boy, here we go.

“When I asked you to protect him, I didn’t mean that, Justin.” Dan presses out through clenched teeth.

“Well what was I supposed to do? Just sit there?” Justin fires back.

“You could have gotten out of the situation!”

“Excuse me!? Did you see what that kid did not only to Grian, but to you? He could probably catch up to us even if we were a thousand blocks away!” 

“Who’s to say he’s speedy!?”

“You!”

Grian looks like he wants to say something but is cut off. 

“When did I say he’s speedy!? I never said that!”

“Uh, are you suffering from memory loss? You said, and I quote:” Think proceeds to do an extremely mocking impression of Dan. “ _From what I saw from the kid, he looked agile._ ”

“Agile is a completely different word!”

“No it’s not!”

I make eye contact with the blonde and beckon him over to me. I notice Trayaurus and Jemma exchanging looks of anticipation and Rachelle just looking annoyed. Fair. 

Grian comes up to my side. He just reaches my shoulder. Justin and Dan are still arguing.

They argue about it for a bit, not sure how long, until it suddenly evolves.

“Oh, and what if he’s a threat. He LITERALLY TRIED TO APOLOGIZE IN THE RECORDING!” I haven’t heard Dan shout in a long while. From the looks on everyone’s, including Justin’s, faces they haven’t either. I probably look as shocked as them. 

Though, knowing Think, he instantly comes up with a rebuttal. 

“But how do you know it’s sincere, Mr-Know-It-All?” Justin sneers. For someone like him, who you’d assume to be quiet and calm, he knows how to get on people’s nerves. “I think you are just falling for a trick.”

“A trick, huh? You seem to be FORGETTING that I did psychology for MOST OF MY LIFE. I’VE SEEN LOTS OF LIARS, AND SAM ISN'T ONE!”

I hear a whimper from beside me and see that Grian was quite put off by that statement. I put my arm around him. It’s a bit hypocritical, I know, but can you blame me?

“ _Sam isn’t a liar!_ I’ve never heard something that STUPID IN MY LIFE!” Now Justin’s raised his voice.

“YOU KNOW THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!” Dan is obviously offended. To the point it’s almost fake.

And then Justin responds with another insult and then Dan shouts back and the two are just yelling.

I bring up my hoodie and effectively tune out of the argument which has escalated into a shouting match. Rachelle simply facepalms and Trayaurus starts backing away. Jemma is frozen in place, looking shaken up.

I think we can all agree that this is the worst argument they’ve had in a long time.

Since those two are...closer to each other...they argue more often than say, me and Justin. And we’ve seen arguments between them before. Over trivial things like what game to play. I think the most heated it got was Justin storming off. Then he revealed that was just him being dramatic and we laughed about it later.

But this...this is on a whole other level. I’ve never seen anything like it. Especially not between these two. Dan, who’s inherently optimistic to the point it’s almost annoying and Think, who’s chilled out about everything. I doubt the chilled side to Justin has been shown to you, reader. But it exists. 

A slab of warmth sinks into me. Grian has leaned into my shoulder, face embedded in my clothes. 

Then an epiphany hits me. It slaps me in the face and stings me like a bee. I’m supposed to be doing something, right? Supposed to be trying to help. And by Grian’s reaction I can tell he’s uncomfortable.

Now I would normally just let arguments fizzle out but I don’t think this one will stop without interference. 

“I got this.” I mumble to no one in particular but to be honest it was probably either myself or Grian.

“Guys.” I say, louder this time. The two in front of me don’t hear me. 

“Guys!” Still no response. Grian steps behind me. It’s almost like he’s hiding. Bet you can imagine that. 

“GUYS!” Going to their volume grabs their attention. I don’t normally - no, I never shout so I have to cough afterwards so I can catch my breath. They both turn to me. Looking at them now, Justin looks _pissed_ and Dan looks like he’s on the verge of angry tears. 

“You guys were so cooped up in your little argument that you completely forgot about this guy. And you were arguing about him.” I point to Grian. He looks pretty pale. 

Dan’s face changes from anger to regret.

“Oh my god no Grian I’m so sorry-“ Dan starts spitting out apologies like he’s the Flash. He wipes his face to stop himself from crying.

Justin just raises his eyebrows. 

“No no, it’s okay! You didn’t realise!” Grian responds. He’s still shaky. Sounds like someone needs to understand what it’s like to share your emotions.

Wait. 

Dan just runs up and hugs Grian all of a sudden. Grian looks shocked at first but then accepts the hug. I hear a sigh of relief from behind me. It was one of the girls. Probably Rachelle. Maybe Jemma. It doesn’t matter. The two mumble something and then Dan says something about wanting to talk it over alone with Grian, Grian agrees, Dan asks us if they can. 

Justin tries to protest but a tired sounding Rachelle interrupts.

“Go ahead. We’ll wait here.”

Dan looks quite pleased with the response and he thanks us. The two go into the spare room. As soon as they’re out of earshot, Justin complains. 

“I was literally doing what he asked, jeez.” 

I sigh. Think is a good person, I swear that on my life. He just...he can be a bit rude at times. 

“I mean, both of you had valid points in that argument, and honestly if you had let it fizzle out like you normally do you would have come up with a solution. But Grian was a bit scared, that’s all.” Jemma responds, stressing the ‘but’. 

“I suppose you’re right. Ugh, I just want to help him…” Justin’s tone changes to one of sorrow. “I see why he’s scared of me now.” He goes to sit on Melbot’s desk. 

“Justin, please get off my desk.” The AI asks. The expression on Melbot’s face is angry.

“You can work without it, I need a place to sit which isn’t a chair.” Justin responds. He then looks at us. “Now I feel bad…”

“Don’t feel bad!” Jemma says. “You tried your best.”

“Yeah, but my best is never good enough.” he sighs. “I want to get along but my stupid brain just won’t let me.”

“Start slow and try to make small talk.” Rachelle advises.

“Oh I tried, trust me. But I could never get a conversation going. The only thing we managed to establish is that I’m allergic to cats!” Think half-jokes. “It’s stupid. I should just keep the façade up that I’m mean because honestly it’s gone too far. I’ve screwed it up.” His head drops. 

Melbot suddenly speaks. “You haven’t screwed up. Saying that you screwed it up hints that you aren’t willing to try and fix things. Rather than saying you’ve screwed it up, say that things have gone wrong but you will put them right.” 

We all fall silent. It’s awkward. Pretty sure no one was expecting that. 

“Dan programmed that, didn’t he?” Rachelle asks. 

Trayaurus responds with a positive grunt. Fair, he probably knew. 

“Typical.” Justin says. “Always trying to bring others up. Thanks, Dan.” He seems a little happier now. “I’ll try to put things right.” He looks at me. “Thanks for splitting that up, James.”

“No problem.” I’m happy to actually be acknowledged in this situation. “It’s probably the worst argument you’ve had like...ever.” 

The rest of the room agrees. Then we sit in silence for a few minutes until Dan and Grian come in.

“You guys are quiet. What’s up?” Dan asks. 

“We’ve already discussed things.” I say before anyone else can.

“Right.” 

I notice Grian eyeing Think. Justin looks away.

“Anyways, to take our minds off that, you guys got any samples?”

Oh. I completely forgot about that. 

Dan gives his and Justin throws his over, despite Trayaurus yelping. I catch it midair and hand it over. 

Trayaurus asks something, but due to Dan’s response (“Nothing. I think we’ve cleared the area.”) I get the hint he asked about progress, or something. I don’t know.

And that’s that. Justin and Dan forgive each other and Dan talks about an idea he can up with. Basically, If Sam comes, Dan has a plan.

“You should head back out then. I might stay behind this time.” Justin says. 

“I’m a little hungry though, not gonna lie…” Grian interjects, before chomping on a golden carrot. Justin continues.

“Haha, I think we all are.” His laugh actually seems genuine, and you can see surprise on Grian’s face. “It’s nice and sunny out, we could stay out there.”

“It’s almost always sunny, Justin.” Dan says with a comedic tone. “That’s just life!” 

But as if on cue, things suddenly get darker as the sun is blocked out, presumably by a cloud.

“You guys jinxed it!” Grian murmurs, but just loud enough for Dan to hear.

“Hey, maybe we did!” Dan responds.

I look towards where the sun should be and spot a hot air balloon. What. 

“What’s up, James? You look concerned.” Dan asks.

“Uh...there’s a hot air balloon in front of the lab.”

Dan makes eye contact with Trayaurus and slowly turns towards the balloon. 

“Melbot, open the door.” He commands, in a serious tone.

“Opening front door.” 

I hear the slide as Dan steps out to the front porch. 

A mischievous voice which sounds similar to a villager’s rings out through the hall.

“Well well well, it’s good to see  _ you _ again, DanTDM.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, James POV?? Hell yeah! I’ve always wanted to write something James centered cause he needs more love. This chapter was gonna be written in Gri’s POV, then Dan’s (it remains in the first paragraph) then James’.  
> Oh, and as is trend with my fics, James has ascended to slight bastard status.  
> I procrastinated on this chapter a LOT. I was not ready to write the argument but it has been done. Also edits to a previous chapter has been done.  
> I even got this to 2001 words specially which is fun.  
> \- YanDan


	9. [CHAPTER 8: SCAR]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We pan off of our main heroes for a bonus chapter, where we see the Hermits dealing with Grian’s disappearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha scar pov

I strap on my elytra and fly to Mumbo’s base. It’s not quite enchanted yet but I’m working on it. 

As I expect, Mumbo is pacing around his front yard.

“Hello, Mumbo.”

“Ah, hello, Scar.” He’s unfazed by my sudden appearance. 

Still no sign of Grian. No sign whatsoever. It’s been ages since we’ve seen him and we’ve put everything on hold just to find him. 

I’m honestly on the verge of giving up.

“How are you?”

“Good.”

It feels weird, we’re all so off that I can barely tell who’s talking. 

“Need any help with anything?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

Xisuma has been looking all over the map. We’ve gone far, far out of bounds. But no sign of Grian. 

We intend to search the nether next.

“Had BadTimes patrol the shopping district last night. He didn’t see anything.”

Mumbo nods. He’s noticeably disheveled. So am I, with this stupid wizard suit. 

Jellie’s not here yet so I can’t even speak to her. It’s easier on some of the other hermits that don’t know Grian as well. Like Hypno, and Beef. They’re able to move on. We aren’t.

Everyone’s helping though. We’ve all been pitching in. Oh, and Xisuma is betting at the moment that they may have to head into another server. Which is quite scary, because if you leave a server after being in it for too long, your communicator might break. And that means that X might get trapped.

I don’t like that idea at all.

What if we never find him? What if he’s gone forever already, maybe even permadeath...what if he got taken to a hardcore world? What if they killed him? The thoughts, as they always do, overwhelm me. Why him? Why us? Why?

I feel something surround me and realise that Mumbo has started to hug me tight. I do need a hug, right now. I think we all do.

If you had told me, as we were packing up from Season 6, that things would go south this far and this quick, I would have laughed in your face. I would have told you that even if things go downhill we pick it up quickly.

And look at the fallout right now. Look at how bad it has gotten. 

How was the whitelist breached? How did Grian’s supposed kidnapper get in? Where have they taken him? So many questions. Not enough answers.

I’ve no idea what Iskall and Stress are doing but they are worrying just as hard as me and Mumbo. Who knows.

My wizard cap falls onto the floor allowing my brown hair to show through. I look up to the moustached man in front of me. He is looking to the floor. 

“Maybe it will get better soon, huh?”

“Maybe it will get better soon.”

It feels a bit weird how everything is centred around one person. But I know...I know if there was no focus we would never find him.

I won’t be satisfied until we find him. My heart will race until we find him. 

And when we do, everything will return to normal.

If we do...no, when we do. I have to remain optimistic. Grian will be trying to find us, right? He has to be.

We’ll meet in the middle. 

I drop some rockets and Mumbo takes them.

“For you.”

“Thanks…”

Then we go silent again. It’s not normal, not vibrant without him. Well for some people it is, for others it’s not. 

I have hope that we’ll find him, sooner rather than later. Maybe another week? And he’ll be back with us. I’m sure of that. 

Just gotta keep moving forward, eh, Scar? Just keep moving forward.

“I’ll see you around.” I say to Mumbo, before shooting away. I faintly hear a response but it’s not much.

I move over to Larry the snail to collect some of my things. But then I find myself impulsively moving towards the hole Grian made to prank me, and breaking the cover and just sitting there, no idea whether the zombies will come up or not. Probably won’t, but it gives me comfort in this dark time. Comfort, thinking about the old days.

“Hey Grian? Can you hear me? If you can, just know we’re coming to rescue you, wherever you may be. Maybe someone is looking after you, maybe not. But either way...we will get you back to Hermitcraft.” I say out loud, towards no one. Maybe he’ll hear me. Maybe he’ll get a slight feeling that we are looking out for him. 

Warmth arises in my heart and it feels like a response. I know it’s not, I can’t hear it. But for once, I feel like my cries have been heard. Someone is out there, telling me Grian is okay. 

I reminisce on the good times. The war, Demise, Area 77...everything. He’s a good friend. And Hermitcraft will be complete when he returns again. 

But then the warmth leaves and I’m left in the cold of the jungle. Because he’s not here now, and doubt consumes me again. The hobbit hole near me is barren. And will remain that way until I get my act together and help.

So I stand up and get my communicator out to arrange another meeting with X.

~~~

_ I felt a pang in my heart during everything that is happening right now. Someone from Hermitcraft knows I’m out here. And I’m alive. Can they hear me? I doubt it. But if they can, I want them to know that I am okay and will come soon, after some business is finished. _

~~~

_ This is all so interesting to watch. Everyone’s reactions to everyone. The subtle changes in behaviour. The changes in personality. What has happened has changed all these people.  _

_ One string has finally been tied together. Finally together after all this time. _

_ My problem is that it has suddenly left many other strings dangling without being solved. _

_ Will they solve it? Well, I’ve screwed with them enough, I don’t wish to do anything more. So yes, they should. But my question is, will they? Or will everything be breaking apart, too many strings untied until they all become loose. _

_ But I enjoy watching this. So I don’t want it to be too soon. _

_ Well, back to the main scene. What will happen next, I wonder? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am...so sorry about this chapter. I’m sorry it took like a month to come out, I’m sorry it is so short and badly written. This isn’t on par with how I wish to write the rest of the story that’s for sure. I lost motivation to write this chapter and I’m back due to the interaction I’m getting, so thank you for that. Hopefully the next chapter is up to usual standards! Oh, and I almost forgot. This chapter takes place at the same time as the next chapter.  
> I may be sorry for a lot of things, but I’m not sorry for the cliffhanger. Cya!


	10. [CHAPTER 9 : DAN]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain figure returns to humiliate Dan. It doesn’t end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before this chapter begins, I just want to warn you that there’s an important image in this chapter! So that may be why formatting is WEIRD

When James mentioned the balloon, I could have sworn my heart stopped beating. It was almost like I had lost control of my body as I told Melbot to open the door. I sounded more confident, more strong than I ever had before. Which is ironic because internally, I was terrified.

Why now? I had hoped that he would never return. But I guess no ones’s ever really gone…

But why now? I already have so much to deal with.

So here I am, sun beating down on my arms, still reeling from an argument, standing in front of my once-thought-long-gone arch nemesis, Denton. 

“Why hello, Dan ‘The Diamond Minecart’, it’s brilliant to see you again!” He calls out. Instantly pulling out the full name card, I see. I look behind me to see Trayaurus has joined me outside, the others waiting on the porch. Most of them look quite shocked. 

“What do you want, Denton?” I say through gritted teeth. Denton mockingly cocks his head to the side, and I notice a strange grey device on his neck. Grim barks.

“Why, you should know what I want!” He slams his hands onto the rim of his balloon. “I want revenge for what you did to me!”

“You were trying to take over the world with massive clones, no wonder we had to stop you!” Tray yells for me. It’s a good enough argument to make Denton grumble. 

“Well this time, I’ve got a plan to put you out of commission!”

“Try us.” I put my hand on my hip.

“Alrighty! But first, your little friends. That will be Justin, James, Jemma and Rachelle, correcto?”

“Yeah, And?”

“Who’s the blondie?”

“His name is Grian.” No trauma, please.

“Gree-on. Got it!” I look over to see Grian flinch. 

“I’m going to shatter you like glass, DanTDM. And you know it.” 

“You can’t do anything!” I raise my fist up. “You barely know me.” 

“Oh! Oh ho! Oh hohoho!” Denton laughs, somewhat manically, like a cartoon villain. “That’s cute.” He then smirks, and I step back. As I do so, I can hear Justin mutter something about murder. 

“Says the British freak.”

Oh. _Oh._

**_Oh no._ **

I can feel my eyes widen and my knees buckle as Jemma, I think, yelps slightly. 

And just like that I’m back in the locker, late for class, knowing I’ll get in trouble because bullying is no excuse for lateness while I feel like I’m slowly choking and-

Snap out of it, Dan. You’re the smart and mature one. You’re the one who isn’t supposed to have trauma, you help others, they don’t need to help you. You can’t show weakness at a time like this!

“What’s wrong, Danny? Why’ve you gone silent?” Another degrading nickname, another memory. Trayaurus is looking at me, concerned. 

“H-B-B-How do you know all of this?” I stutter out. I realise how shaky my voice is. Trayaurus puts a supportive hand on my shoulder, though maybe it’s to stop me from falling.

“Why shouldn’t I? It’s easy to find these things if you know where to look. Or maybe you can’t hide them well.”

And there goes my diary and school books, ripped to shreds. 

“Dan, you okay?” I look over to Grian behind me, who has raised his hand up, in fact he’s slightly stepped forward.

“I’m fine! It’s not like what he’s saying is affecting me or anything.” I lie through my teeth, and Justin raises his eyebrow.

Turning back around, I see Denton’s crossed his arms. 

“Sure about that?”

“I’m sure about it! You’ve always tried to bring us down but you never could, cause you’re just a good for nothing evil-“ I shut myself up before I lose my filter.

“Huh, what a hypocrite. You pride yourself on kindness but you can’t keep your head.” That’s not even hypocrisy, that’s just...me losing it. Which I’m on the verge of doing again. 

“Look, I’m not looking for an argument. What are you trying to do?”

“That’s a plan I mustn’t reveal.” He laughs, and Trayaurus taps my shoulder. 

“I think he’s trying to hum-“

“But that’s beside the point!” I finish Trayaurus’ sentence internally. Why would he need to humiliate me as revenge- oh.

“I had a feeling you’d want these.” Denton picks something up from a chest in his balloon and throws it down to me. I catch them easily and have a read.

_Another day. Another bruise. But I met Jason today, which was fun!_

…

I hiss. Like, literally hiss. 

“What’s up, scaredy cat?” I swear the taunting mixes between Denton’s voice and _theirs._

“How did you get my diary?” My voice cracks. 

DanTDM. Stay strong. Don’t lose your head. You can’t be broken down, not now, not ever. Denton doesn’t affect you, he’s just some petty scientist who knows nothing. He knows nothing, he doesn’t even know how you work things, he’s just trying to trick you, all you need to do is defeat him again, that’s easy, right?

“I can’t hear you!” 

“How did you get my diary?” I say, louder this time. Are those tears I feel in my eyes? That’s an overreaction, Dan. No reason to cry. 

Denton lowers the balloon to the ground, chuckling to himself. He then steps out and with him brings out a box. 

“Open it.” 

I don’t..no, I’m not falling for it again.

“I’m not falling for this again. Shut it.” I can feel my hand reaching into my jacket. 

“Open it, Danny.” 

“No.” I turn to look at my friends behind me. Most of them are looking worried, Grian for some reason has his hand on his heart and Justin is standing by, looking like he’s ready to attack. I don’t want any fighting, please no fighting.

“Open. The. Box.”

I can’t let this happen again. I won’t embarrass myself again. I won’t become a laughing stock again…

“Denton, stop it, this isn’t funny.” Trayaurus steps in between us, only to get pushed to the side. 

“That’s the point. Open it.”

“NO!” I shout, pulling out my sword and pointing it at the villager wearing black in front of me. And that is what I like to call an overreaction. 

“Wow, what stupidity. There’s actually something in the box, but I guess you don’t deserve it, huh?” Denton opens the box for me and reveals something I lost long ago, a paper and pen that I treasured before it was stolen. They had notes and discoveries in them that I will never think of and never thought I’d see again. Seeing it sends a shock through me and I almost fall to my knees. But I have to stop him. 

“Stop this now. Bringing up my past isn’t funny, it isn’t helping, I don’t care if you want to humiliate me, because if you don’t stop I’ll have to use force.” Trayaurus gives me a look which shows me even he disapproves of my actions, but of course he does. But I have to stop him. 

“I guess you don’t deserve these then, huh?” 

What? What he says doesn’t register. I look up at him in confusion. 

Then I spot the flint and steel.

“NO! STOP!” I reach out but the box is already alight. Something I treasured and missed for years, gone just like that. I can feel the heat on my legs, and I can just hear someone manically laughing. I try to fish whatever remains of it out, but my jacket sets alight and my hands are stinging and I realise I’m not gonna be able to get them out in time. I rescue the pen, but nothing else. 

I hear water and look up at Denton, who’s splashed the ashes of my notebook with a bucket. “Quite the show, don’t you think?”

And, despite all my friends watching me and willing me to do something as revenge, and despite all my inner thoughts, I begin to cry. 

It’s an over reaction, I know. I’m just being dramatic. But I can’t help myself. The flashbacks and everything are too much. My story isn’t even that bad! I was just bullied, that was it! Grian has it so much worse, and yet...

I can hear Trayaurus trying to comfort me as Denton laughs again. It’ll be okay, you didn’t lose much, it’s nothing to worry about. Just stay strong.

I wipe my eyes and stand up, but the tears keep silently falling.

“What have you done?” I mumble. 

“Everything, just so I get the revenge I deserve.” He laughs and I spot the device on his neck again. Why don’t I humiliate him again? I’m about to bring it up when I hear footsteps from behind me.

“You messed with the wrong person, Denton.” 

Justin? Why’d he get involved? He doesn’t even know Denton, why’s he standing by me? 

It only registers when I hear the smack and the yell.

My vision is blurry but I can make out Denton holding his cheek in pain and Justin standing tall. And maybe it’s my tired eyes, but are his eyes red? 

“I’ll do it again.” 

“Hold on, that's neither here nor there!” Grian calls out from behind, but no response from Justin. 

“Don’t, it’s not worth it-“ I choke out.

Justin looks towards me and I see his hand raise to fight Denton again. Then his sword equips. 

“Not again..” I hear Grian cry, and James says something along the lines of “This is so out of character..” but I don’t understand what he means, so I ignore it. 

“Don’t you dare-!” Denton shouts, and I can hear the nervousness in his voice.

Think squeezes his eyes shut and opens them again before looking at me, eyes green, almost like he’s pleading.

“Do you still have the taser on you?”

I fumble around with my jacket and get my hand on it before pulling it out. “I do.”

“Use it on me, please. Before I do something I regret.” 

This is the second time but it hits me as hard as the first. Possibly harder, seeing as I’m highly emotional right now. Think never asks me to do that, though the stun gun he gave me is for that reason. So he doesn’t mess up. Why he thought that was the solution I don’t know.

“You sure about this?”

“ _Please._ ” He repeats. 

No time to dwell. I nod and shakily point the gun at him and count to ten. It takes all I have on me to fire. He shouts and collapses to the ground, sword falling from his hand.

Denton staggers up, hand resting on his bruised cheek.

“This isn’t over.” 

Then the dark-cloaked villager goes into the balloon and floats sky high above us. 

We all watch in silence. When he’s gone, I tell Rachelle to take Justin inside and make sure he isn’t affected. She does so without a word.

Once those two are in, I release an intelligible shout and let the tears flow again as I ugly cry. 

So much for being strong.

Jemma pushes Trayaurus aside and hugs me. I could use the comfort from my dearest wife, after all. It’s why I married her, she’s always been there for me. Trayaurus joins the hug, and us three just awkwardly hug it out as I cry. I overhear James saying something to Grian, probably just telling him it’s okay. 

I’m not sure how long this lasts but eventually the hug breaks and I’m calm. I look down at my hands and realise how burnt they are, the red marks appearing all over as they sting. Whoops. 

“I’m gonna have to get a bandage for these..” 

“You’ve injured yourself twice this week, good job.” Grian jokes, and I laugh. If it came from anyone else I may not have. 

“Hah…” I release it with a sigh and Trayaurus runs inside. 

“Plot devices.” James says, looking straight at me but also through me. 

“Excuse me?” I ask. What does he mean, plot devices? This isn’t a movie!

“Nothing.” He laughs and comes over to me. “You’ll find out in time. Or maybe you won’t? Who knows. But I know YOU know.” What’s he on about? I blink in confusion and some water escapes which I wipe away with my sleeve. It stings. 

Trayaurus comes out with some bandages, which he wraps around my hands. “Rachelle says you need to try and be more careful.” 

“I’ll try.” Grian says something about how he knows from experience that it’s hard, but my eyes have been drawn to the pen I rescued on the floor. I carefully pick it up, though it’s still hot. Scribble on the bandages, still works. 

“Oh, I think you might want this.” Trayaurus pulls out something from his pocket. It’s a notebook. One of those small ones you might see around an inspector’s neck or something. It’s even got a string tied to it. Not sure why, but it lifts my spirits.

“Woah...thanks, Tray!” He hands it over and I put it round my neck. It’s a bit heavy, but the comfort of having it overshadows those feelings.

I have a look at the first page.

It’s got this taped to it. Did Trayaurus just happen to have this on hand? Was he planning this? I look up to him in shock.

“Oh, I was going to give you this notebook with a lot more small photos in it as a gift, but I decided that you might prefer it blank.” He clarifies.

“It’s...well.” The horrible memories clouding my mind get replaced by the ones I got after seeing the photo. All the good times in the lab.. “It’s wonderful. Thank you.” 

“No problem, Dan!” He responds. “Denton was an awful lot worse today than he used to be, so I figured you need it.” 

I nod. “I think I really did.” 

“So...you guys want to go back inside and chat?” Grian asks.

“Sure, why not.” I respond, and we all go back inside, thoughts and flashbacks flashing through my mind.

~~~

_What was that all about? I wonder..oh well, I won’t ask._

~~~

_Wow, he’s perfect. But so separate…_

~~~

_Interesting to watch. Dear reader, I have a question to ask. Now, do you think Dan should have reacted like that? Or not? What would you do in that situation?_

_Alright, I’m done. I’ll be watching this happen with great interest, but for now I won’t disturb your reading. See you next time_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhh do I have a lot of things to say about this chapter. Number 1. Whoops procrastination. 2. Oh no, a wild image appeared! There are more images on the wattpad version but y e a. 3. Still on the topic of the drawing technically it wasn’t made specifically for this book (hence the background) but it fit so I put it in anyways. 4. Dan literally posted a video of nostalgia the day of publishing and it made my weak hear cry. 5. Woah this chapter has not much grian and could probably be a stand-alone fic without him  
> Okay my rambling is done (I think,,) bye! Expect a little pause as I’m not too sure where to head after this, and what I’ll do with the next chapter.  
> -YanDan  
> Image Link: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/717531539398721585/742460905198977065/image0.png


	11. [CHAPTER 10: THIRD PERSON]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lab is tense.  
> James is upset.  
> Scar is in it to win it.  
> Someone watches.

The group all go inside. In silence. Dan calls out to Rachelle to ask about Justin, Rachelle says he’s fine, in fact he’s slightly responsive. That makes Dan a lot calmer. 

It feels weird. For all of them. The silence threatening to eat them whole. The looming feeling of doom. It’s not something the lab is used to. Grian is but that’s irrelevant.

“What comes next?” Dan asks. 

“I guess we have to go outside again..” Grian responds. 

“Do we though? We could just continue studying the plants which give off signals..” Jemma intervenes. “After all, I think with three bad things happening in quick succession we all need a break.” 

“I agree.” says the medic. “Leaving will be too much stress on all of you.”

“But...you know, the experiment!” Dan protests. “We can’t just leave that be!” 

“For a few hours, take a break.” Grian says, going up to the goggled man. “Please.” 

The two lead scientists of the group protest. The others try and talk them down. It lasts for a minute before the scientists give in. 

“Fine.” Dan says, leaning to his side. But he leans on his burnt up hand and he pulls it away in pain.

“Further proof you should take a break. You didn’t dip your hands in water, did you?” Rachelle asks.

“I did not.” Dan admits.

And so the pointless conversation continues.

~~~

Scar flew to X’s base, ready to tell him about the connection he had.

“Swishwhammy! May I tell you something?”

“Scar, just the man I need.”

“You need me?”

“I’ll tell you after. For now, go on?”

“Well, I was thinking about Grian and where he could be, and suddenly I got this connection, like a golden feeling in my heart, and maybe I did something which means Grian is alive?”

X looks very pleased.

“Which dimension?”

“Overworld.” 

“That confirms my suspicions. GoodTimesWithScar, while you may not be Grian’s closet friend, you saw him last.” Scar gets a feeling of nervousness in his throat. “Therefore, I am going to ask you, and possibly other hermits if you get stuck, to go out into the other servers and look for Grian.”

Scar is shaken up. Him? Why him? Why not Mumbo, or Iskall, or BDubs...when was he important in this situation? Well, maybe he was, kind of.

“I- well-”

“You don’t have to accept, if you don’t want to. It’s just...I think you’re our best bet, Scar.”

Scar looked at his hands. Thin lines scattered across them, a small new scar every time he died. Which was often. So there were a lot. He expected more to come. But...he couldn’t leave Grian alone, wherever he was.

“Should I get a partner? Possibly Cub, or Mumbo…”

“It’s okay, X, I can do it.”

“You sure?”

“I sure am!” 

Xisuma looks Scar up and down.

“Well you’ll have to get changed.”

~~~

James surveys the group in front of him. We have Dan currently fretting over everything imaginable, Grian just sort of...standing there and Jemma trying to calm Dan down. 

James feels forgotten. Irrelevant. Unneeded. That is what he is, right? 

He was never noticed in the past. It was always Justin and Dan, Justin and Dan. 

Never him.

And the lingering feeling that someone’s watching his every move is prevalent. That someone’s been waiting a while for this. He grips his hands together. 

“You okay, James?” Dan asks.

“What? Yeah I’m fine.”

“You look overwhelmed…” Grian pipes up.

“I am, but only slightly.” Better to be honest, he thinks.

“You should go and take a break too, James.” Jemma reasons.

“Fair enough.”

James waved and walked away. He went outside.

The wind of the forest flew through his hair and clothes and he instinctively pulled his bandana up.

James looks at you.

“...won’t you just leave me alone?”

~~~

Scar stood tall at the top of the shopping district, gripping his newly regained cowboy hat to his chest when Xisuma flew towards him.

“Scar.”

“X.”

The conversation needed little words. Scar knew what he was to do anyways, and why the admin could not do this himself.

He had to go to Season 6, check there. If he wasn’t there, he’d have to go to the main worlds. He had his communicator on his wrist, and X was getting ready to send him there. 

Hopefully, Scar would find the missing hermit. Hopefully, the missing hermit would be okay. That is what the duo, no, the whole server, hoped for. 

“Beep boop?”

“Beep boop.”

A strange conversation but that was their code for everything working. Scar nodded and looked around the mycelium covered island one more time. It looked horrible, but that wasn’t the point. Xisuma And Scar made eye contact.

“Good luck, GoodTimesWithScar.” 

Then Scar found everything swirling and turning black, then he found himself in Season 6, hat falling off of his head like a final statement.

~~~

The duo stared down at the lab below. The group inside and the green one standing outside, looking into nothing.

“Don’t you think it’s cute? How can one think they can run for so long?”

“Don’t be so malevolent. This is our job, and we must take the other one. I wonder whether he’ll like it here, finally being noticed as he deserves…”

“I doubt he’ll like the lanterns.” 

“I know you too well, feeding off of other’s trauma.”

“Forget it, we must strike soon.”

“We must.”

They are not malicious creatures, rather deceptive gods. They are only looking out for their people.

Things may have been twisted through time. 

He would set things right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY this chapter took so long! A multitude of events led to me not being able to write and I’ve ended up really wanting to write another set of fics (good job YanDan, taking up new projects when you still have old to do) so I wanted to get this chapter out! Sorry its so short : ( Have fun, friends! And thank you for 1K reads/hits on Wattpad and AO3 individually!  
> \- YanDan


	12. [CHAPTER 11: GRIAN]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It feels awkward in the lab, and Dan and Grian reminisce on the past.

Things feel….very awkward, right now. Like, really awkward, and I hate it.

Being in awkward situations was never my thing, despite the fact I almost always cause them. I try to make a joke, people laugh. It goes back to being awkward again. 

Dan keeps saying we could try and go out again. I told him no, we’re not doing that. So did his wife. He’s too restless, honestly. And I am too! I’ve gotten focused on something for way too long and forgotten to look after myself, but from how calm Jemma seems, it looks like this is a common occurrence.

“You look a bit concerned.” She says, almost on cue.

“Does this happen often?” I ask.

“What do you mean? If you’re talking about Dan getting absorbed in his experiments? Yes. Dan finding someone random in the middle of the forest and takes them in? Uh….somewhat?”

...What on earth does she mean by the last part?

“Somewhat?”

“He’s been on some wacky adventures, let’s just say that.” Jemma laughs, and I do too. 

“I think we both can relate on that one!” Dan’s obviously listening into the conversation, as he happily walks over. “You’ve told me about that one server...what was it, Hermitcraft?”

“My home. With all my friends.” 

Dan lightly pats my back.

“And you’ll be back with them soon, I promise.” He seems thoughtful. “Hey, they’re definitely looking for you too. Maybe our paths will cross, and this’ll be over soon.”

“Hopefully, yeah.” 

I miss them all. I miss Mumbo, I miss Iskall, I miss Stress, I miss Scar. 

Scar was the last person I saw before I was kidnapped, actually. We were laughing about the blocky moustache I had carefully built on his lovely snail he used for a base…

_ ~~~ _

_ “Hey! Grian!” I heard Scar running up from behind me and he gave me a good old pat on the back. I whipped around, seeing the purple cloaked wizard. _

_ “Hey, Scar! What’s the problem?” I noticed he looks as if he’d just been surprised by something.  _

_ “You- you put a mustache on my dear Larry!” Scar smiled, but his tone of voice was that jokey sad type.  _

_ “Oh! Do you like my little addition! I think it makes him look quite good!” _

_ “Yes yes, he looks nice, but did you really have to add a Mumbo mustache?”  _

_ “Of course I did, Scar! It’s so fun!”  _

_ Scar and I shared a good laugh while playfully arguing about the semantics of mustache attaching, but once it’s calmed down, Scar speaks up. _

_ “Well, it’s been good figuring out who the Mysterious Mustache Meister is, Grian! I wish you a good day!” He tipped his wizard hat to me before shooting off. _

_ “Bye, Scar!” I waved at him as he went, thinking to myself ‘he’s a great one, isn’t he?’.  _

_ Then I headed back to my starter base. _

_ Though honestly, I wish I hadn’t. _

_ ~~~ _

“Grian? You alright?” 

I come back to reality to Dan looking a bit worried in front of me. “You zoned out for a little there.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” I respond, and even I can tell I’m out of it. “I had a flashback there.” 

“Oh. You alright?”

“Yeah, it was a good one.” I admit. 

“Tell me about it!”

And so I explain the fact I put a moustache on Scar’s snail.

“I’m sure he appreciated that!” Dan says, stifling a laugh. 

“He sure did!”

I realise that despite all I say, I don’t know much about Dan. 

“Have you got any funny stories? With the others?”

Dan thinks for a moment.

“I have a lot, but here’s one I shared with Justin and James a while back.”

And Dan begins to narrate. 

~~~

_ Dan had gotten back from doing business and went to the mini-lab he had built beside his base. Said base was in a small server that Dan, Justin and James had built, alone. _

_ Trayaurus had come to visit Dan’s base in this world, and Dan had built a mini lab for him to stay in. _

_ One day, Dan came back to a stench, coming from this mini lab. _

_ “Eugh Trayaurus, did you fart here?”  _

~~~ 

“Ah, a story about farting.”

“I know, a beautiful story indeed.”

“I...did not mean to say that out loud.”

~~~

_ “What!? No I didn’t!?” The villager denied it.  _

_ “Then why does it stink!?” _

_ “I don’t know!” _

_ Yet ‘Trayaurus’ wouldn’t stop farting, and Dan couldn’t tell what was causing it. _

_ This continued right up until the world was going to delete and Trayaurus, Dan, James and Justin were going to leave, however they went around the world before they left.  _

_ When they passed by the mini lab, Dan made an offhand comment about Trayaurus the chronic farter. _

_ “Oh, I know.” Justin smirked when he said this, apparently. _

_ “H-how?” Dan asked.  _

_ “Cause I was the one who put the stink bug there.” _

_ “Wh- WHAT!?” Dan shouted while Justin and James burst into laughter. _

_ ~~~ _

That’s a chaotic energy I didn’t think I was gonna get from Think of all people, but here we are. (Though, I’m not sure what a stink bug is.) 

“...I feel like I would do that.” I comment.

“You would, honestly.” Dan says. “You were saying how many pranks you pulled on your friends and all.”

“Yep! Heck, I’ve even caused prank wars!”

“You told me about that, didn’t you?” Dan tilts his head to the side. “What was it...you versus Doc? The creeper hybrid?”

“Yep! Team G against Team Star. And Doc’s a creeper hybrid, yeah. He’s super cool, despite our many rivalries. He even did a rap with the rest of his team against us!”

“He sounds pretty cool.” I don’t know whether Dan is referring to the creeper hybrid part or the rap he did in the war, but it’s no matter. Doc is a cool person.

I take a moment to lean carefully on the desk where Melbot sits in the centre. I never noticed it, which I should’ve, but there’s this massive green ball at the high point of the dome. I wonder how Dan got up there, since he doesn’t appear to use an elytra. He doesn’t appear to use...anything too modern, really. I’m not complaining, though, he’s making do with all the contraptions he has, and it’s fair for me to mention he hasn’t used much redstone for these either. 

“Hello, Grian. How may I help?” Melbot asks out of the blue, making me jump.

“Oh, she’s activated by touch. Don’t worry about her.” Dan explains.

“Hey! I think you should worry about me, thanks very much!” Well, I never. An AI having a distinct personality? It’s never something I’ve seen before! She even had a level of expression in her voice.

“Oh, alright then, Mel.” Dan teases, then sighs. 

Despite his laughable exterior, Dan’s obviously a lot smarter than he lets on. I’d love to be able to make an AI like Melbot, even if it takes some help from the redstone masters like Mumbo. 

I’d have to wait until I can get back to Hermitcraft though.

Wherever Hermitcraft is.

I then remember something, that kind of concerns me.

“..Hey, shouldn’t Justin be awake and moving by now?” I ask.

“What do you mean? That taser takes about 5 minutes to wear off.” Dan looks at me, confused. I’m shocked. 

“5 minutes?!” I exclaim. “They should only last for 5 seconds, maximum!”

“Uh-.” Dan gains a shifty look of fear on his face. “I mean...it’s never had a lasting effect...so..?”

“Yes, but I don’t- it just seems unhealthy.”

“And that’s why we’ve got Rachelle checking on him, you see. He’s uh...he’s strangely resistant to these things.”

_ I could say the same to you. _ I think, but I don’t say it out loud.

“I’m right here, you know!” 

The high pitched voice comes from behind Dan, and it makes me jump, again.

“Oh, you’re okay!” Dan says, in his surprise. 

“Yes, yes I’m fine. And no Grian, I think it’s okay, but you’d have to ask Dan for that.” Justin turns to me. “Thanks for the concern.”

“How long were you waiting, Justin?” Dan questions. 

“Waiting behind you? Uh...about when you were talking about Melbot. I was about to get your attention but you were invested in your conversation, so I didn’t bother.” Think confirms. “Oh, and what I was originally meant to say was well..to apologise. That evil me came out, again.”

Wait. Evil him? What?

“What do you mean, evil you?” I ask.

“Oh, nothing, nothing. I assume you’re going to continue with the experiment, Dan?” Nice dodging of the question, Thinky.

“Yes, probably! Tomorrow though, I’m being forced to stay in today.” Dan jokes. I pout but don’t say anything.

“Well, I probably won’t join you. I don’t want to risk anything, plus I’m still not in the most stable mindset right now.”

Ah, so he’s not following us. Understandable, frankly. 

“That’s fine, Justin. You can stay behind if you want.” Dan pats Justin on the shoulder before turning to me. “You’re coming, right, Grian? If we run into a certain bunny, I’ve got a...plan, per se.”

I’m too scared to say no, so I say sure.

“Perfect! When James comes back in, I’ll ask him too. And then we’ll go! Tomorrow, that is.”

“Yes…” Justin mutters, eyes dropping down to Dan’s hands. “Don’t make those wounds any worse, alright?”

“Yes, yes, I get it.” Dan laughs, and Justin and I exchange glances of concern. 

“Uh...can y'all get off of my desk now!” Melbot exclaims. 

“Sure, Mel.” I go and stand beside Justin. 

And whew, most of the awkwardness has been shaken off.

Things are uneventful for the rest of the day. James comes in from outside, he confirms he’s joining us tomorrow. It’s going to be Dan, James and I tomorrow and we’re all sticking together. 

Hopefully nothing too bad happens. 

But hope is a fragile thing, and it’s fate I need to focus on, am I right?

~~~

_ We’re just waiting, it’s too close to call. _

_ We’ll need to wait until that bunny is gone. We’re not the nicest of people, sure, but even we know he’s a disgrace. _

_ Let’s just hope he’s not too angry with us. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH HEY YANDAN FINALLY UPLOADED A CHAPTER  
> I’m so sorry for not uploading for ages! My motivation for this book went far far down after the last chapter, but I got myself back up on my shit and pushed this chapter out. Thank you all for sticking with me, and I’ve got many plans for this book!  
> \- YanDan


	13. [CHAPTER 12: SCAR]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scar goes to Season 6, and finds an old friend. But no Grian.

“AH!” I land flat on my face on the land, and instantly feel dizzy from the impact. I lay there for possibly 5 minutes before I look up.

Well this sure isn’t spawn, but it’s a start.

The shopping district. I barely remembered how grand it was since the last time I came on here. We’d had so much fun, building shops and trading bits and bobs. Now we’re in season 7, and we think someone may have gone back.

But for what? And how? How on earth would Grian have managed to get back to Season 6 without Xisuma’s help?

Well there’s the portals, for a start. Maybe one bugged? Or maybe the infinity portal, it could be that. 

But right now, the focus is on finding Grian, not how he got here. If he got here. 

So, if I were a pesky bird, where would I go? 

His base, obviously.

I go to grab my hat when I realise it’s nowhere in here. Whoops, I must’ve left it in season 7. Or dropped it. Either way, I don’t have it.

Then I attempt to fly away, then I remember I don’t have any rockets. Or diamonds, or anything other than my elytra and my communicuff. 

I did not come prepared for this, now did I?

Who ran the rockets store here again? Tango, I believe. Of course it was, who else would come up with the punniest name?

As I’m walking to Tek to the Skies, I take a moment to admire the Convex building. I’m proud of that thing, and well, the Convex was so fun with Cub’s intelligence and well...the vex’s everything. I miss them. 

I wonder if the Vex will come back and aid me on this mission.

...Probably not.

I remember that Grian could be anywhere, so I run into all the stores I can, looking in every nook and cranny of the rooms. 

I go and steal some rockets from Tango. It’s not as if he’ll need them anyways. 

Then I fly over to the massive landmark which is Grian’s base. I remember seeing Grian build this for the first time. I knew Grian was a good builder, everyone had been mentioning it when the rumble of a new hermit came about, but this took me aback when he started building. For the newest hermit, it completely shattered me. He’s got variety in his builds and a smart idea, and combined with his chaos, well, what do you expect? A completely different character I was not prepared for.

I take a moment to admire the base before zooming right on in. 

It’s perfectly the same since season 6, no changes whatsoever. I check every chest, every nook and cranny, yet no sign of Grian whatsoever. I check in the chest monster that he built up, and nothing. No sign of a blonde hermit.

...Ugh. I really hope we find him soon.

When looking in some of the more...unlikely places, I find a note.

_ I miss you, but I know you’re here for me. - G. _

Grian wrote this to someone, that’s for sure. Unless Grian knew a different G? Did he? I don't know. I don’t know much about Grian’s past.

That’s a place to start, though. 

I’m about to investigate in the same place again when I get a ding on my communicator.

Huh, that’s weird. No one is supposed to be in this world...so that means…

I fumble and pull out my communicator, hope rising in my chest.

_ <Welsknight> Hey, Scar! _

Well. Not the person I was hoping for, but someone nonetheless- wait, Wels?! What’s he doing here?! In season 6? I thought he was going someplace else?

_ <GoodTimesWithScar> Uh...hi, Wels! How are you? _

_ <Welsknight> I’m good! Everyone’s been a bit busy as of recently, no one’s talked to me for a while! _

Wait, does he think we’re all still in season 6?

_ <GoodTimesWithScar> About that. _

_ <Welsknight> Hm? _

_ <GoodTimesWithScar> Uh...meet me in the Convex building? _

_ <Welsknight> Sure! _

I equip my rockets and zoom over to our lovely Convex hub. I remember this place fondly, living through the memories when I hear a familiar voice.

“Hello, Scar! What’s up?” I turn to see Wels, clad in his usual armour, smiling at me. 

“Uh...what exactly...are you doing here?” I ask. 

“What all hermits do, obviously! I did have a very long sleep though, but recently I woke up. No one’s around, though!”

Oh, right! Wels went to sleep sometime before we moved over to Season 7. Did he not wake up? Has he been sitting here, not realising that we’ve moved on? Well, I’ve got to break the news to him, don’t I?

“Okay, Wels, this may sound crazy, but uhm...we’ve changed seasons. We’re all in Season 7 now.”

“...What?” Wels looks at me, highly confused.

“Yeah, we moved over. You were asleep, I think.”

Wels blinks.

“Now Scar, we are sitting right in the middle of the concorp building, so I know you’re quite a prankster.”

“Well...this isn’t a prank!” I shrug.

“So you all just...abandoned me?” Wels looks to the side, evidently upset. Crud.

“No, no! I guess no one forwarded the news to you, but we didn’t do it on purpose!” I frantically explain. “We still care about you! Hey, you can come to Season 7 if you want!”

Wels looks diminished still, but he nods. 

“Yeah, that would be fine. What are you doing here anyways?”

Oh right. I have to explain. 

“Umm...well you see, Grian went missing, and we’re in the midst of hunting for him. I was the last person who saw him, so I’ve been sent back to the previous servers to help hunt for him.”

“Oh.” Wels nods. “Well I haven’t seen Grian, actually. He hasn’t joined, at all. How long has he been missing for?”

“A few weeks...he went missing around the beginning of Season 7.”

“Right...well I may have been asleep then, but no, Grian definitely hasn’t joined since I woke up. Do you want to search for him together?”

“Yeah, awesome! I’d appreciate the help!”

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” 

Wels hands me some rockets and straps on his elytra, before we begin to fly around season 6. 

Running around the bases and the shopping district is easy enough. Simple places, simple looking. But no sign of Grian at all.

Over to Hermitville. Over to Sahara. Over to the furthest corners of the world.

Nothing. No sign of Grian whatsoever. I wish I could give you more description, but truthfully, it was less about what places looked like and more looking for the red sweatered hermit. 

Still no Grian. 

Through the Nether, through the End. 

No sign of Grian.

Over twice, over thrice, typing his name in chat, calling out for Grian.

Nothing.

Wels and I fly over to the shopping district and both of us collapse on the floor.

“That was...tiring.” Wels says, after catching his breath.

“Sure was.” I agree with him, pushing my hair back.

“But...no Grian.” 

We sit in silence, catching our breath and snacking on steak as the reality dawns on us.

“So if Grian isn’t here, and he isn’t in Season 7, then where is he?”

“Let’s check his base, one last time.”

So we go over to Grian’s base, the magnificence lost on us as our worry is a lot more prominent.

As we’re searching, almost hopelessly, for any sign of Grian, I check under his bed, and something catches my eye.

A note. Why would there be a note under here? I yell out to Wels and he rushes over as I pull out the note and read it out loud.

~~~

_ PRIVATE SERVER _

_ IP: ***** _

_ PORT: **** _

_ ~~~ _

“His private server!” I yell out. “I hope he’s there…”

“Did he tell you he was going there? Cause if he didn’t, it might not be as probable.”

“Well, it’s worth the check, isn’t it?” Wels is right, but this lead is too good to ignore. 

I turn to Wels. “You can go to Season 7. I should continue this.”

“No no no no no. I’ll help you. It’s worth it, and plus I can scare the others when I come back.”

“Ah, alright.” Not sure what Wels means by scaring them, but either way, I take him aboard the ship. I’m not going to admit it, but I’m quite nervous going alone.

So we both pull out our communicators and type in the digits to get to Grian’s private world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyyyyy it’s been a hot second. Sorry for the lack of description in this chapter, I did not watch Season 6, so unfortunately I do not know much about the season, so I focused on the memories. Hopefully this suffices for now.   
> Thanks for reading!  
> \- YanDan


	14. [CHAPTER 13: GRIAN]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A close to Grian’s first part of his trauma.

I wake up sweating from a nightmare to the sun just barely rising, the sharp rays shining onto my face in the window. Nice, it must be early. How fun. 

As I’m going out, I catch myself in the mirror and am caught off guard. Right, I forgot I was wearing Dan’s shirt. I don’t look the best in green, not going to lie. It works well with my eyes, though. Sort of. 

Either way, I neaten myself up from my rough sleep and head out to the midst of the lab, trying to be quiet as I doubt anyone is awake. 

I am proven wrong by Dan sort of pacing in the middle of the main room, and he waves at me.

“Hey, Dan!” I whisper-shout. “Why are you awake?”

“Never fell asleep!” he responds. “Anticipation, am I right?”

“You should sleep!” I call out, going up to him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll sleep tonight! Let’s get this bunny boy running!” He seems excited, and honestly, if this goes well, hopefully this will get that part of my life out of my mind. “Anyways, why are you awake?”

“Nightmares!” Dan pats my shoulder in response. 

“Oh, sorry…”

“It’s okay, I get them a lot. What are the plans for today?” 

“To go out and find more sources and stuff, but if we find Sam, then we’ll try a forgiveness plea or a compromise. If that doesn’t work...well, I don’t know, but we’ll bring our weapons and a first aid kit to be safe. 3v1, am I right?”

Thanks Dan, very reassuring.

“Y-Yeah, I guess.” 

“Let’s just wait for the others to wake up, shall we? Maybe we can watch the sunrise. It looks great when it comes through the lab, trust me!”

I don’t question anything. This lab is magnificent as it is, the glass walls definitely have some sort of effect in the sunrise.

Dan takes me over to the testing chamber and we maneuver around the many machines he has stacked up there and lay down to watch the sunrise.

Dan doesn't lie. It’s beautiful. You can make out each individual cloud and stream of light. Each individual stroke of colour. It’s almost as if it’s a picturesque painting.

I remember something from Hermitcraft. Sometimes, on a clear day, I would sit down with Mumbo and Iskall, and we would crack jokes and make Sahara plans in the sunset. It would last right through the night, all the banter, and by the end of it we’d just watch the sunrise. 

I miss them.

I really do.

Dan and I lay in silence for who knows how long, even when the sun is quite high up and the colours of the night are only somewhat visible. I might even fall asleep, it’s so peaceful. Just me, and Dan, calmly watching the sunrise, waiting for a massive day to come, just waiting for those around us to come but for now it’s a peaceful and sunny day-

“Alright, what are you two doing now?”

I yelp in surprise and sit straight up, and it appears Dan had the same knee-jerk reaction.

“Justin! You scared the crap out of us!”

“Well how the hell am I supposed to walk in on you two zoned out and get your attention and not scare the crap out of you?!”

I hear James laugh in the background. 

“Alright alright! We were just watching the sunset, alright?”

“Why were both of you awake?!”

I say ‘Nightmares!’ at the same time as Dan says ‘I didn’t sleep at all!’. Great.

“OH COME ON!” 

Everyone in the vicinity chuckles and we both dust ourselves off. 

“So, we’re going out today, huh?” James asks.

“Yep! Hopefully it’s the last time we’ll need to head out. We’ve got a lot of sources, but just to be safe. The magic wears off after a while, after all.” Dan says.

“Well I’m staying back, you know how badly that went last time. Good luck, you two- wait no, THREE!” 

“Thanks Think, very cool.” I say, sarcastically. Justin rapidly apologises as James and Dan giggle to themselves in the background. I forgive him, obviously.

Once we’ve all calmed down, Dan and James pack up to leave, and I help as well. Dan keeps mentioning all these technical names and objects for things, and James and I are just nodding along. At some point we make eye contact and we both exchange glances, trying not to burst out into laughter. Dan doesn’t notice.

Sooner or later, we finish packing up and get ready to head outside for what, the second time? Great.

As we’re on our way out, I take a few deep breaths to steel my nerves. Trayaurus grunts something at me. I look at them. There’s not gonna be any context clues from Dan, so I just have to wing it.

“Uh, thanks, you too.”

Trayaurus blinks, puzzled, before grunting again.

“Y-yeah, that’s what I said.”

We both look at each other, confused, before they gain this look of realisation. I believe we just had a very awkward conversation. Whoops.

The balloon of awkwardness in the lab is breakable with a pin.

I look over to James and Dan for some help. James looks just as confused as I do, and Dan is currently showing a mix of surprise, concern and confusion. 

“I have several questions.” Me too, Dan.

“Let’s decipher that...later.” I say, trying to cover ourselves up.

“Let’s.”

And so with that lovely final encounter, we head out to the open forest.

I’m not sure what it is about today, but it feels a lot less menacing than every other time I’ve been in this forest. Is it the comfort of having a plan with two people who’d protect me? Is it the sun, shining down clear as day on us? Who knows, honestly. I sure don’t.

It’s reasonably ‘normal’ for a while. Dan is rambling about the progress of the experiment so far in great detail, and James and I are just walking beside him. There’s no sign of any magic, really, so I don’t see the point in walking outside. They’ve gone out far enough, haven’t they? So why are we bothering with this now?

...I think it’s purely a ploy to calm me down about Sam and get him off of my head for now. I would appreciate that, and it explains while Dan is being so open. And loud.

Things take a turn when James flicks his head around all of a sudden. Dan doesn’t notice, lost in his thoughts, so I give James a look of concern. He gives me a look that I can only describe as ‘a mouse when they know they are about to be caught in a cat’s mouth, but can’t do anything to stop it.’ 

Oh no.

Dan seems to notice us both looking nervous (finally) and asks us if we’re alright.

“No, and you should know why.” I say.

“Yes, you should know why…” comes a familiar voice in front of me.

My instincts clash and I pull out my sword and rush behind Dan, which was not what I intended to do but either way, I did it. Fight or flight, am I right?

“Don’t worry, Gri, it’ll be fine.” Dan reassures me before putting on his brave face at the bunny-eared monster standing in front of us.

“SamGladiator.” 

Sam completely ignores Dan’s comment and looks at me.

“Look at you, hiding behind those who you think will protect you, when last time you didn’t hesitate to attack me when I wanted forgiveness!”

I open my mouth to say something, but a squeak comes out and Dan jumps in.

“That was Think, and Grian didn’t have a say in that. Apologies for his actions, he’s a bit rash, don’t you know?”

“I do know in fact, and I don’t like it!” He says. James mutters something, and Sam whips around to face him. “I am NOT CHILDISH!”

“Geez, I was just saying! After all, this is quite a... **gri** -vous situation. Ah? Ah?” I cannot verbally express how much I hate and love that.

“James, I appreciate you and your attempt to lighten the mood, but this is not the time for puns.” Dan tells James while keeping his eyes on Sam.

“We all appreciate a good pun.” I say.

“HEY! BACK TO THE POINT!” Sam shouts, which makes me jump and drop my sword. “You!” He points at me, with a trembling finger, and I step back, as do the other two. “You betrayed me! I wanted forgiveness, and you didn’t even bother to help me when I was being RUDELY attacked by that old guy!” 

“Well yeah, I was scared! Of course I was! And why-” 

I am cut off by Sam throwing his knife at me, I squeak like a gosh darn mouse and duck under the weapon. It lands on a tree some distance behind us.

“Alright, no need for violence!” Dan shouts, and he reaches into his jacket. 

Sam ignores Dan, instead lunging forward and ramming himself into me, and I land square on my back. I feel a dull pain in my spine, but that’s the least of my worries as he grabs my sword and puts it up to my neck.

“And now, I‘ll make sure you’ll never leave me again!” 

I try to scream, but all the air has been knocked out of my lungs by the throw onto the floor.

I don’t want this to be it! I don’t know Dan’s world’s rule with respawn, but with Sam on my chest, suffocating me, it’s bound to be permadeath. He’s from a permadeath world after all! God, I’m terrified. I want to go back to everyone, tell the, that I’m okay, continue Hermitcraft, yet this insane murderer who traumatised me years ago is instead on my chest, sword up to my neck, edging ever closer, threatening pain and suffering, and-

“Alright, that’s enough.” I hear James’ voice ring out, and he sounds more commanding than I’ve heard him yet. He grabs Sam by the shoulder and  _ throws him across the clearing,  _ and he lands right beside the tree his knife is in.

“See! I told you you’re too aggressive, and-“

“Uh uh uh. You’re the one who started it this time.” Dan interrupts. “And actually, we offer a peace offering.”

A peace offering? Really? 

“Yes Grian, I know that sounds absurd.” Dan looks at me knowingly. I must’ve shown my thoughts on my face. “But it’s not gonna be a whole ‘oh, you have to make up’ kind of thing, cause I know that never works. Rather just...like, can you two at least leave on neutral terms, rather than one person trying to kill the other each time?”

Alright, he’s got a fair point. And I’d prefer to not have that thought in the back of my head, telling me he’s going to kill me at some point, and that it’s my fault. Maybe I wouldn’t feel hunted all the time. 

“A bit unconventional but...sure.” I respond. Dan nods and looks over to Sam.

“Uh-uh-uh! No way! I’m not letting him get away with this! He either comes with me or-“

“You leave him alone?” Dan’s starting to get annoyed now, and he puts his hand on his hip. “So if you’re not going to leave on neutral terms where you don’t have to worry about each other anymore, so be it. Rather, you could make an agreement where you never bother each other again. Never see each other again. Would that do?”

Sam still looks annoyed.

“No!”

“I will keep putting options on the table which doesn’t hurt anyone here, so I want you to accept one, at least.” 

“...Fine! We’ll never see each other again! Maybe I can have his worthless ass off of me!” 

“...Yeah, I’d prefer to never interact with you, like, ever.” I say. Sam shoots me a death glare.

“Well then, we can start that now, can’t we? You can leave now, Sam. Oh and by the way…” Dan goes up and takes the knife out of the tree. “Just in case.”

Sam huffs and gets ready to storm off, but I remember something.

“By the way, can I have my communicator back? So I can get home?” I call out.

Sam looks at me.

“FINE!”

He then pulls out my communicator and stamps on it, rendering it useless, before throwing it at my feet. He spits at the floor and leaves in a flourish.

I exhale a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“Finally, that abusive harasser is gone.” I say. Finally he’ll leave me alone, and I hopefully will not need to worry about him anymore. And he hasn’t got his dear weapon, so maybe, just maybe, I’ll catch a break from the trauma. 

Finally, I’m free from SamGladiator’s grasp! 

I don’t realise it but I find myself hugging Dan and James.

“Thanks so much, I...I really appreciate it! You’ve all been so nice and kind and...I can’t wait to get home!” Now I just need to check my communicator and text the hermits to say I’m okay- 

“Yeah, but first we’re going to have to repair your communicator.”

I look down at my feet to see the smashed device. I pick it up, and it’s lighter than usual. The screen is destroyed and half the buttons are gone or cracked.

“Right...this thing is broken…what are we going to do now?” 

“It might still be usable, hold on!” Dan takes it from me and attempts to turn it on. I can hear a massive ZZT! from the device, and Dan shudders a bit.

“Nope, won’t turn on.” He says, in the exact same voice as before. 

“I’m sorry Dan did you just get electrocuted?” I ask.

“Just a small little shock, I’m fine!” He smiles. No, that’s not fine.

“You could say he’s…. **electric.** ” James does finger guns at us. Dan facepalms.

“Why so many puns, recently?” he asks.

“I make puns when I’m concerned.” 

“Understandable.” 

“Either way, we should start heading back. That was a lot of action for one day, agreed?” Dan says, and doesn’t wait for a response as he begins walking, and me and James walk alongside.

Yep, this was definitely a ploy to find Sam and get this part of my life done and dealt with. 

“Yeah, why not?” I respond anyways. “But my communicator is in bad shape, so I think I’ll be stuck with you guys a little longer. Not a bad thing, I just miss my friends.” I say, and then clarify. Dan laughs. 

“Don’t worry about it! There’s actually this town nearby. Well, by nearby, I mean an hour away by powered minecart, but there’s a station and a village around 15 minutes away from the lab.” Dan points in the general direction of this town. “There’s a lot of people there, it’s quite populated. Thing is, it’s like the epicentre of all the places around these parts. You have something formal to do? You go there. You have to meet up with someone across the world? You go there. When you need help with transferring worlds, you go there.” He then points to my communicator. “And when you need to repair a communicator? You go there.” 

“Sounds good! How often do the trains there leave?” I ask. “Or can we just fly there? You know, using elytra. Might be faster.”

“Oh, no one really uses elytra around these parts.” James mentions. “Good thing too, basically no one in the lab can fly.”

“I mean...I can teach you!” I offer. Dan politely declines, something along the lines of ‘I appreciate it, but I doubt I’ll need it any time soon.’ Which honestly? Fair enough.

“Anyways, the trains leave every week. There’s another….in 5 days? Ish?”

“Well, that’s quite a way away, isn’t it?” James comments

“Yep...either way, you’ll be getting home soon!” Dan smiles at me, and I beam at him back.

It’s still a while, but it gives me hope. I’ll be home soon. 

“That town is quite the place. I actually used to live there, when I was a teen, but I don’t really think about it much. It’s very futuristic, though, and…”

Dan begins to ramble again, and I’m not really thinking about it. Instead, I’m thinking of the hermits, and how much I miss them. I can’t wait to see them all, Doc, Cub, Zed, Hypno, Iskall, Stress, Scar, Mumbo….all of the hermits! I can’t wait to see them all again.

My eyes go to a glowing purple flower, in the midst of the green. 

“Hey, Dan! There’s a flower there that looks like it’s related to the experiment you’re doing!” 

“Oh? Perfect!” We all go up to the flower, and Dan is about to pick it out of the ground when I notice something. 

“Wait, Dan, can I see that leaf, quickly?” 

“Alright, but make it fast! Last time I stalled, the magic faded, you see.”

I get a closer look at the leaf of the flower. There appears to be a symbol made in the veins. A broken nether portal.

Oh. Oh no.

Why is my past coming back to haunt me all of a sudden?!

“That’s the symbol of the watchers…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *takes a month to write a 1000 word chapter*  
> Also me: *takes less than a day to write a 3000 word chapter*  
> Whew, this is the longest chapter so far! I wonder where the motivation for this chapter came from? I sure don’t know! Either way, something new is stirring, and while Sam is finally gone, a new threat has arrived...  
> Also! I watched James’s Gacha Life video, and that’s why he makes so many puns in this chapter. He makes puns when concerned.  
> Thanks for reading!   
> \- YanDan


	15. [CHAPTER 14: DAN]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s time to talk Watchers.

_ Watchers? What are the ‘Watchers’?!  _ I think, as Grian tells us. I notice a strange symbol on the leaf of the flower, which is where Grian’s attention is.

“Hold on, what?! Let me see that-” I can see he looks terrified, so I instinctively switch from an indignant voice to a calm one. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.” He gives me the flower and I look at the symbol in more detail. It’s a rectangle, but with cut off corners. A weirder symbol indeed.

James peers over my shoulder and I can hear him gasp.

“I knew I recognised that name, I’ve heard of those guys!” James looks less scared than Grian, more vindicated.

“Hold on, hold on, slow down you two! What are the watchers?!” I interrupt.

James launches into an explanation, but is quickly cut off by Grian. 

“Oh, they’re basically folklore-“

“Uhh, let’s explain back at the lab, it’ll be easier to explain there.”

“Oh, okay.” 

“Right...sounds like a threat, but okay.” I say. I’m mildly nervous by these sudden revelations, but either way, it could lead to a conclusion to the experiment! Which would be ideal. 

We head back to the lab, and while the silence may have been awkward for some, for me it’s a time to reflect and think. Grian, eh? An interesting character. I like him, he likes me, but he isn’t acting much like how he acts in the stories he’s told me. Maybe I’m not catching onto it yet. There’s a lot of things I haven’t been catching onto, if Grian was able to tell from one close look at the flower.

We get back to the lab, and I yell out to the others.

“Hey guys!”

“Hey.” Justin appears almost out of nowhere, waving at us. His viewpoint goes to Grian’s face, which is still a bit shocked. “Didn’t go well, eh?”

“No, it did go well! Sort of.” I cover up for the blonde. “We managed to get Sam to stop harassing Grian now! Well, not on good terms as I would’ve liked, but...he’s gone now, at least.” 

Think raises an eyebrow. I don’t think he trusts my judgement. 

“Yeah, Dan said it right.” Grian says, sighing. “But another threat has come into play.”

“Oh great.” Justin’s face...yeah, I don’t think he likes that news.

“The Watchers. Uhh...I’m gonna have to explain, aren’t I?”

“You’re going to have to.” Trayaurus yells from the testing chamber.

“Thanks Trayaurus for the input.” Think remarks, sarcastically.

“Hey, he didn’t say anything wrong!” I retort, but not angrily. “Either way, this might help with the experiment, or even help us come to a conclusion!”

Think sighs. 

“Anyways!” James interrupts, before yet again, launching into explanation. “Basically the Watchers are gods, mainly talked about in folklore and the like. They watch over every action every player does and even control certain worlds, stepping in when things get bad. That’s basically them. The symbol that they’re present is that broken nether portal in the flower G’s holding. You don’t mind me calling you G, right?” 

Grian softly smiles. “No, I’m fine with it. But uh...that’s not exactly correct. The watchers are gods, that’s right, they’re folklore, but the thing is, they actually exist. And they don’t always step in when things get bad either. Sometimes, they just want to take over worlds. And...people.”

James shrugs. “Well, I said what I was told by my parents. That sounds...really bad, that last part.”

I see why Grian was calling these guys a threat.

“Yeah, could you elaborate on that?” I pull out that notebook and the pen, and begin writing in it. 

“Right, uh, another part of my life! After my high school years, I went to a place called EVO! A server with many people who grew to become my close friends. Including Taurtis! I told you all about him. He was there. But one day the watchers came and ruined it all by saying either one of us had to join them or the world we lived in would be destroyed. And uh...I, well, I gave myself up. Little did I know they’d destroy the world anyways.” Grian sighs. “So yeah...I stuck with them unwillingly for a few years as they terrorised other servers, doing odd jobs while sometimes hanging out in a private server of my own. I soon enough was tasked to watch over another world called Hermitcraft, and I ran away there. They’re here looking for me.” 

Jeez, this guy’s gone through a lot. He knows it too, cause the next thing he says is “Huh, I have a pretty tragic backstory now that I think about it in detail.”

James points at Grian for some reason.

“You’re an anime protagonist.”

Grian points back at him with an agreeing smile on his face. Justin and I are left to exchange glances of concern and confusion. 

“Anyways!” I interrupt James and Grian’s moment of mental connection. “So, you’re saying the Watchers caused all of this.”

“Yeah, that’s the likelihood. And, they’re a threat, so, since they want me, I’ll stay for a bit longer to keep you guys safe. Consider it a repayment. For all you’ve done for me.”

“Noooo no no no no no no no no. You don’t have to stay! We can fight against them, plus if you leave they’ll just go follow you there.” James quickly gets out before anything sentimental happens.

“Well, he has to stay here anyways, we have to wait for the train.” I remind them.

“Train to the city? Why? What about his communicator?” Think questions.

“Oh, right. His comm got destroyed.” I explain. Think nods in understanding. “Right...okay.”

“So...how do we defend against them? Grian, you were a part of them at some point, so-“ I ask, but I’m cut off before I can finish my sentence.

“Thing is, there is no real way to defend against them, per se. You just have to deal with them when they come. They’re all powerful and whatever, so you just have to do what they want or have everything you love destroyed. That’s it.”

“I’m sure you can bargain with them.” James says, evidently trying to comfort Grian. “After all, they can’t be that bad.”

“Hmm, maybe you’re right, James.” Grian says. That’s James for you, giving out hope. Thank god. 

“But uh...this does come to a pretty satisfactory- well, no, but at least it comes to a conclusion to the experiment!” I chime in, and it’s an exciting prospect really. “Mysterious gods that are only existent in folklore coming into our world, and for what? And leaving small hints, for that matter! Hey, with how powerful you said they were, if we could extract their power from our sources, use it against them...oh, this could be absolutely insane if it goes well!” 

James and Grian look at each other with concern.

“So come on! Let’s try and get as much as we can out of these watcher flowers, and figure out how to fight with an ironic sword!”

“What?” I hear Justin question, as I run into the testing chamber to tell Trayaurus what we have to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long wait. I was going to get this chapter out sooner, I promise, but then shit happened. What is that shit, you may ask? Well, unfortunately, an important character in this fic, Thinknoodles’ dog died a few days after Ch13 came out. And I did not want to seem disrespectful as he was going through a lot, so I didn’t write. But he’s slowly coming back and hence, a chapter. Sorry to seem all sad and stuff, I really don’t want to be upsetting especially with all that is happening. For now, I hope you enjoy the (albeit shorter) filler chapter! This was really to get back into the swing of writing, honestly.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully people enjoy this read! I really enjoy both Dan and Grian’s channels so a crossover was due. Hope y’all like it!


End file.
